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Ja Morant’s Vertical In Comparison To LeBron James And Michael Jordan Will Leave NBA Fans With Dropped Jaws

Published 04/27/2022, 10:30 AM EDT

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Ja Morant stunned the NBA world, once again. Once again because he made jaws drop before and he was back at it. During his short time in the NBA, Morant has shown glimpses to suggest that he is well and truly destined for greatness. In his three seasons, he has taken the NBA by storm.

At only 22 years of age, he has been compared with some of the best NBA players ever. And why is that? Because of the absolute prowess in his dunks.

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Ja Morant in the Game 5 of the NBA playoffs, threw down a monster jam, and it was a special moment. No ordinary dunk, a poster dunk. No ordinary poster dunk, an absolutely smoking, jaw-breaking, eye-popping poster dunk! Unfortunately, Malik Beasley was the one to be posterized. 

That is not normal. But why is that dunk so good? We have the breakdown for that.

How high can Morant actually jump?

Standing at 6’3″, Ja makes up for his average height with a great wingspan (6’7″) and insane vertical jumping ability. Before Ja Morant was first drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, he recorded a standing vertical leap of 44 inches. The average jump height for the NBA is 28 inches. Ja Morant’s unbelievable bounce makes him even dunk on players who may be as tall as 7 feet.

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It was speculated that Ja Morant used to jump at least 800 times per day until he could dunk. He first dunked a basketball when he was 14 years old. In high school, he also practiced jumping on tires and using unorthodox methods.

Ja Morant has earned appreciation and all the praise. Moreover, has he earned the comparison with two of the greatest basketball players the world has ever seen?

Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Ja Morant — Who has the highest jump?

The answer is simple. It’s Michael Jordan. But to put things in perspective, the comparison is important to understand how impressive Ja Morant actually is. The fact the comparison exists is proof that his vertical is actually very, very good. 

Michael Jordan’s vertical was recorded at as high as 48 inches. This is the best ever in the history of the game. There are many things that MJ had, that are best in the game and his vertical leap actually earned him the name His Airness. The logo of Air Jordans, his sneaker brand, is just another example of how unreal MJ’s vertical used to be.

It was as if he could stay in the air for a few seconds longer than everyone else. Absolutely unstoppable. Players knew when it was coming, yet nobody could do anything.

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LeBron James’ vertical is recorded at 44 inches. The way he drives with the ball and asserts himself against his opponent is absolutely insane. The head above the rim and ball whipping the net. Cameras flashing, the crowd going crazy, and slow-mo replay on cue. Signature LeBron dunk! And at 37 years of age, he has still got it.

Even being in the same sentence as Michael Jordan and LeBron James is somewhat of a big achievement for Ja Morant. Moreover, the 22-year-old has earned that achievement. His training and practice put his vertical at the same height as that of LeBron. And that is special!

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WATCH THIS STORY: Poster dunks by LeBron James.

Ja Morant is special and everyone in the NBA hopes he can continue playing the extraordinary basketball he plays. We would love to hold our heads in amazement, with jaws dropped and left with our minds blown, for Ja Morant.

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Written by:

Chaitanya Sharma

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Chaitanya is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He completed his engineering from SRM University. Having determined an interest in football and basketball, he was inclined towards having a job in the sports industry.
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Edited by:

Arunaditya Aima