Luka Dončić looks great but his supposed vertical is doubtful at best

USA Today

16 hours ago

Our digital cover star, Luka Doncic, ready to take his game (and the Lakers) to new levels of dominance. And this summer shred has been years in the making.https://t.co/aB19DY7rrL pic.twitter.com/bjVsf1ampI
Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić has had a remarkable body transformation so far this summer and he looks more than ready for FIFA EuroBasket.
During a recent interview, the Slovenian-born All-Star discussed everything that he has done to get in good shape before representing his country in the upcoming basketball tournament.
That includes multiple workouts per day as well as "a gluten-free, low-sugar diet" that should help his conditioning, which is something that may have damaged his reputation among certain members of the front office when he played for the Dallas Mavericks.
Dončić looks nothing short of fantastic in these photos and his quotes about the continued progress indicate that he should feel proud of everything he is doing to continue that journey toward a healthier lifestyle, which is something that he has acknowledged needed work.
However, there is one part of the story that should raise some eyebrows (via Men's Health):
Oh, and he can jump. Lost in the narratives about his weight and conditioning is the fact that, as a 19-year-old at the 2018 NBA Scouting Combine, Luka delivered a 42-inch vertical leap. After a full offseason with Team Luka, he's not sure that number is still the same. 'This year, we didn't measure the jumping yet,' he says. 'But I think it's a little bit higher.'
The idea that Dončić feels he can jump higher now that he could at 19 years old should excite fans. Depending on how he has spent the offseason, it is also entirely possible.
But there is something that we should address: Beginning in 2023, the league now requires all players to measure and test athleticism at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, and excused international players can choose to instead do that in Treviso.
Back then, however, Dončić did not actually participate in the 2018 NBA Draft Combine. He was still playing overseas for Real Madid while participating in the EuroLeague Final Four.
Two players who did participate in the 2018 NBA Draft Combine were future NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions Anfernee Simons and Hamidou Diallo. Neither of them even notched a 42-inch vertical, so it is unlikely that even if Dončić did participate, he would have recorded that number at the peak of his youth and athleticism.
For comparison, Donovan Mitchell had a 40.5-inch vertical when he participated in the NBA Draft Combine. Jalen Williams recorded a 39-inch vertical. When you watch those two play, it seems doubtful that Dončić was jumping multiple inches higher than they did.
Because there is no recorded information available about how high Dončić could jump in 2019, we can only operate on the assumption based on the context we are given. But what we do have is a database on what Dončić actually does during a basketball game.
While it is worth noting that he was dealing with multiple injuries, Dončić had just one dunk all of last season. On that dunk, per NBA.com, his recorded vertical was 23.4 inches. Only two players recorded a vertical on a dunk more than 42 inches in 2024-25: Shaedon Sharpe and Ja Morant.
The season before that even when including the postseason, per Basketball-Reference, Dončić had just two dunks. Dončić has never recorded more than than 25 dunks in a season and that was just his rookie campaign. For direct comparison, Golden State's Gary Payton II (who is listed at 6-foot-2 and is several inches shorter) had 37 dunks last season.
Otherwise he has never had more than 15 dunks, which is as many as Utah Jazz rookie guard Isaiah Collier (who is listed at 6-foot-3) had last season.
Maybe we could see a bouncier version of Dončić in Los Angeles next season, but no, we can't imagine that Dončić exceeds a 42-inch vertical for the Lakers unless he has a trampoline.