Michael Jordan’s high-flying dunks are the stuff of basketball mythology, and they’re exactly why he earned the nickname “His Airness.” From soaring past defenders to his iconic free-throw line dunk in the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest, MJ’s hang time made it seem like he could levitate. One of the most legendary stats associated with him? A 48-inch vertical leap, a number so outrageous, it’s almost hard to believe.
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Well, Dwight Howard isn’t buying it. Appearing on the PBD Podcast, the former Defensive Player of the Year dismissed Jordan’s so-called 48-inch vertical as completely fabricated. He went as far as to suggest it was a marketing strategy cooked up by Nike or Gatorade to help sell products under MJ’s name. And Howard didn’t stop there. He dug even deeper, taking aim at one of Jordan’s most iconic moments: the free-throw line dunk.
While many consider it one of the greatest moments in All-Star Weekend history, Dwight wasn’t impressed. In fact, he claimed that Scottie Pippen had a better version of the same dunk. When reminded that Pippen never even won a dunk contest, Howard fired back with another theory.
“Because he didn’t have…Nike behind him like Jordan did,” Howard opted. When Howard couldn’t come up with anything significant to trash MJ and his dunk, he further said, “Only because Jordan has a bald head and he had shorter shorts on.” If that wasn’t enough, Howard also claimed that people preferred MJ’s dunk over Pippen’s because of his darker skin tone.
It wasn’t just about the dunk. Dwight seemed determined to chip away at multiple parts of MJ’s legacy, even suggesting that Jordan wouldn’t have won anything without Pippen. He compared the 48-inch vertical claim to some of the long-standing Wilt Chamberlain myths, like the infamous 100-point game. And to top it all off, Dwight boldly claimed he would beat Jordan in a dunk contest.
Howard isn’t the only one who has questioned Jordan’s vertical. About five years ago, a user on the NBA subreddit broke down the topic with a detailed analysis. The fan based their argument on the widely circulated claim that MJ could get his entire hand above the square at the top of the backboard.
The calculation factored in Jordan’s height (6’4.75″–6’5″), wingspan (6’11.5″), pre-draft camp numbers, Google searches on his hand size, and the dimensions of a standard backboard. Based on all that, the fan concluded that MJ’s vertical leap would’ve been around 43.75 inches. Of course, these are just theories. The reality is, the actual number will probably never be known for sure.
