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...1. could touch the top of the backboard with a 1-step start(there are witnesses to that in the cited bio,above);2.could high jump 6'9"? David Thompson needed a running start to touch the top of the backboard and,as fine a triple-jumper as he was, could not high jump 6'9".Could a man who did not need a running start to touch the top of the backboard jump 6" higher with a running start than Thompson's 44" max?
The beat writer for the Golden State Warriors and other sources (see Oxford's American biography mentioned above) attested to the 50".I don't think there is much doubt that Wilt could do 50" or higher--with no disrespect to your always facile mind and posts,CDu.
Others, much shorter and not as strong and perhaps lacking Wilt's 4.4 40 yard explosiveness, have had 44" verticals.Wilt was one of the very greatest,strongest, and most explosive running and jumping machines of the 20th c.He was the greatest rebounder in basketball history.
Personal memories,if you will permit:
I saw a photo in Sport magazine circa 1963(mentioned in an earlier post) that looked like Wilt's head was very high above the rim (that is why I taped that photo to my wall at school).He had been sprinting on the fast break and dunked on a Guy Rodgers pass.
In the game Wilt scored 100 vs. the Knicks (March 2,1962,Hershey,PA), I recall reading an account ,as the Knicks kept fouling to prevent Wilt from scoring baskets, of Wilt dunking the ball with 2 Knicks players holding on to him.That is a ton,no pun intended, of thrust!
Best regards.