While Steph Curry is heralded as the greatest NBA shooter of all time, not much has been said about how high he can fly.
After all, he has never been known as a dunker and might just try going for the slam in an All-Star Game or the garbage time of an impending Golden State Warriors win.
Even Curry himself did not know what his maximum vertical leap was when he was invited by Wired to answer the internet’s most searched questions about him. Even Curry said it was “a great question that I don’t even know if I know the answer to.”
However, Steph Curry recalled the time his maximum leap was measured during the 2009 NBA Draft Combine.
So what was his maximum leap during his rookie season?
“I think back in 2009, when I went through the pre-draft combine, I think it was like 28 [inches], 32 maybe,” Curry answered.
According to Top End Sports, the average vertical leap of an NBA player is 28 inches, so at least during the 2009-10 season, Curry, the seventh overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, was somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of all the players’ vertical leap, if his first claim is to be followed.
Regarding his other claim, Curry would have the same vertical leap as Lamar Odom and Shaquille O’Neal.
Steph Curry’s vertical leap not high enough
Regardless of which is the correct vertical leap, Curry’s bounce is considered not that high enough to land a spot in the slam dunk contest.
Some of the well-known dunk contest competitors in the past have vertical leaps of, at least, the high 30s.
Kobe Bryant and Desmond Mason’s vertical leaps were measured at 38 inches, while Shawn Kemp was measured at 40.
Allen Iverson, who never got to play in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, was measured with a 41-inch vertical leap.
The highest recorded vertical leaps in NBA history are Michael Jordan and Darrell Griffith’s, who were both measured at 48 inches.
To further back up the claim that Steph Curry is not dunk contest material, he would be seen struggling to complete some usual dunk contest pieces in his TikTok debut in 2021.
Even if Curry is not known for having the hops, his deadly 3-point shooting is enough for him to be known as a legend.
“[It] doesn’t really matter how I play below the rim,” Curry said.
