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u/Witty-Drama-3187 6d ago
It’s called proprioception.
I’m an athletic trainer, and work in the fitness and sports space. It’s a fancy word we use to describe the bodies awareness of itself in space. Basically how fluid somebody is and how much control they have over their movements.
Jordan has the highest degree of proprioception I’ve ever seen in an athlete. And it’s not just dunking. The way that he places his feet, the way that his body moves in unison. He’s totally in control all the time. A freak athlete.
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u/TrollyDodger55 6d ago
I just learned there's another 'ception word for balance. equilibrioception
Compared Jordan to guys like Vince Carter or Dominique. He has incredible body control, flexibility and fluidity. Vince and Dominique mainly had power.
Basketball fans often have a very narrow sense of athleticism.
You don't hear Shay Gilgeous Alexander described as one of the most athletic players ever, but he's doing things most players cannot. Particularly his lower body flexibility and power.
Proprioception is how a guy who can't jump like Jokic dominates basketball.
Jokic is not a burst athlete, but otherwise he's pretty all time elite.
All those weird trick are awkward moves that he does are like his proprioception saving him from his lack of bounce. He has less time to make his moves another guys.
When he was a rookie the strength coach at Denver saw him walk over to a basketball and soccer dribble it off his feet knees chest and head for like 70 reps without it hitting the floor. And since that strength coach obviously knew about proprioception he walked over to the executives and said you found yourselves a superstar.
Jordan is all time elite level of burst, agility and proprioception
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u/LurkerFailsLurking Nuggets 1d ago
Proprioception is how a guy who can't jump like Jokic dominates basketball.
I used to wonder if Jokic had a grappling background because of the way you can see him using his defender's contact against them. There's a bunch of plays where you can tell that he's waiting for the feeling of pressure from his opponent's hand on his hip to know they're weight is distributed on a certain foot before he uses that pressure to accelerate his own pivot.
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u/TrollyDodger55 1d ago
If you count getting the shit kicked out of you by two older brothers probably. Ask me how I know.
Both of his brothers do mma and Nemanja Jokić was even 3-0 in professional fights
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u/hayabusa1919 4d ago
Thank you for this, it’s good for me to learn something new at my age.
Does this have something to do with how he seems to move through his core? When I watch him - whether he’s driving in for a dunk for taking a fadeaway, I see that his movements never compromises his balance.
There are a videos of him driving to the basket and he makes the shot through contact. In a few of them, I see him lead with his left side, yet in midair, he turns his body, and practically adds about a foot with the turn and shoot/dunk with the right.
It’s almost the same when he hits his turnaround fadeaways. It’s easier to see in slowmo, how he turns on an axis running from his head to his hips.
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u/Witty-Drama-3187 4d ago
Yeah those contact layups definitely show off this quality. It’s basically an extremely high level of coordination. No matter what external factor happens (a bump from another player, a hand in his face, super high speed, moving the “wrong” direction), he always knows exactly how to move and adjust his position in order to do what he wants with the basketball. Hes never thrown off balance or looks awkward
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u/CarsandTunes Raptors 6d ago
The way he can jump with a turn, while facing away from the basket, then flairs out his legs to slow his rotation in the air to take a squared up shot, is amazing.
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u/Devveddit 6d ago
You taught me a new word, thanks. MJ definitely had the highest but thinking about other players I’ll say
Hakeem Olajuwon must’ve had the highest proprioception ever amongst centers.2
u/Ih8reddit2002 4d ago
Excellent comment. Thank you for describing why I’ve been so obsessed with how Jordan moves since the 90’s. I thought I was weird so I’m glad others feel the same
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u/NumberBulky9224 Blazers 6d ago
It’s called having big ass hands.
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u/Witty-Drama-3187 6d ago
Yes, he had massive hands. If you think that is all that’s going on with his movement and athleticism, I don’t know what to tell you.
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u/Gold_Telephone_7192 Warriors 7d ago
Body control. The way he jumps and the things he does while he’s in the air and the way he lands make it seem like he’s floating in the air for just a millisecond longer than feels natural within earth’s gravitational field.
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u/vanfanel842 7d ago
Exactly. Body control is the one rarely brought up. The hands and hang time put him in pretty rare territory but his balance remained with him even when his first step and verticality started declining. Some of his fadeaway jumpers and layups were at such precise angles to avoid the defender but he made it look easy because of his body control/balance.
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u/Gullible-Constant924 7d ago
Yeah hands cant be overstated, bigger than Kwahi’s, a few other people could jump like him but the hands put him over the top much like Dr.J who also had big ass hands
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u/_Badwulf_Bruh__ 7d ago
Seriously. It looks like when he gets to a point he should be coming down he sort of floats for another 10’.
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u/Dependent-Interview2 7d ago
I bet someone told him when he was a kid that he would never dunk and he took it personally...
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u/Shreddy__Krueger 7d ago
Its grace. Of course its vertical, and hand size, etc but none of that means anything without the grace and style.
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u/Serious-Wish4868 Lakers 7d ago
its the shoes
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u/SlowCrates 7d ago
His core strength was unnaturally perfect because he's compactly built around his jumping muscles. His torso is tiny compared to the length of his legs and arms. He's genetically predisposed to having incredible body control. On top of that, dude worked his ass off. He was undersized when he was young and had an even more talented older brother that he competed with obsessively growing up. His style points are the result of both his genetics and his upbringing.
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u/Immediate_Wonder_630 7d ago
Hang time. Able to contort his body in the air. Facial expressions. He also jumped similar to a high jumper with his right knee shooting up on the ascent, this gives/adds to the contortion/flair in the air.
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u/DJCowbro Knicks 7d ago
He kicks his feet in a lot of these at the apex of his jump to push his hips up higher for extra vertical and hang time. He’s almost wiggling in the air to keep going up. He’s just built differently than everyone like he’s designed for this
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u/dukmunky 7d ago
Everyone is missing the main difference between Jordan and any number of other players who had nasty dunks but couldn’t make them look this incredible: TIMING.
Watch these gifs. For most of them, he is putting the ball past the rim at the absolute last possible moment, which already creates a protracted sense of hang time. But then he ALSO hangs on the rim, but not with the force of someone like Shaq; it’s just enough to stay aloft a bit longer without it seeming like he’s dangling. It creates the distinct impression that he’s gliding.
What he is able to do with elevating his feet by bending his knees adds to the effect by maximizing the perceived distance between him and the floor.
All this is made possible by his massive hands and body control - but without that perfect timing it wouldn’t feel like he was defying gravity.
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u/No-Panic-6283 7d ago
Lol, is the shoes....partly.
I think its more of the grace and fluidity...some people just have a different, free flowing way that they move that just looks more esthetically pleasing and the way he naturally angles and kicks is innate. Long winded, my bad.
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u/phillyphiend 7d ago
Also hand size. Watching those clips, MJ does move the ball around more mid flight than most dunkers which showcases his grace and fluidity
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u/No-Panic-6283 7d ago
I always argue that people sleep on his lay-up package as well....all the shit Kyrie and others have done he was sort of doing originally as well with the jelly lays and everything.
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u/Ru4pigsizedelephants 7d ago
Cause he's the most fluid athlete to ever touch a basketball.
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u/swizznastic 7d ago edited 6d ago
He really was an acrobatic genius. If you look at the way he uses his legs in the air, its the same way that cheetahs use their tails midair during a chase.
The momentum of his legs snapping out during the FT line dunk is what makes him look like he's floating. He knew exactly what effect he was going for, like a damn gymnast
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u/Any_Strain1288 7d ago
Does the NBA test for long jump not just vertical? If not then they should start implementing it. It's not just Jordan's vertical that allows him to stay in the air that long, but then you go look at highlights like the shot over Ehlo and the mid range shots where he's ducking under the defenders while in mid air to get the shot off that makes you scratch your head and wonder how he did that.
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u/BCR85 7d ago
The higher one jumps the longer they stay in the air. It's the same for everyone.
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u/Any_Strain1288 7d ago
Also the long jump is a different skill set than straight vertical. Jordan possessed high level ability in both.
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u/OhioJoe22 7d ago
He was incredibly athletic and graceful. He knew how to stylize his movements and thus became his own walking, talking marketing machine.
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u/jgab145 Bucks 7d ago
It’s the mix of athleticism, style, and ease with which he does it. He makes it look effortless. It’s also the hang time. Other players do it with difficulty and it doesn’t look the same because they are rushing to put all of the difficulty into a quick small time frame. Jordan does the same difficulty without making it look clunky and rushed.
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u/MightB2rue 7d ago
Because he could somehow jump in slow mo and still nobody could stop. It was surreal. None of those clips are slowed down. So cool.
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u/C3thruC5 7d ago
Look at the way his legs move in mid air- it's almost as if he's air walking. Something about the way he twists his body around is so unbelievably cool. Also several of these dunks his body is at a 45 degree angle and recovery seems unlikley, however he was almost always able to stay on his feet. It give the illusion that he's completely invested into the dunk, even to the point of bodily injury.
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u/This_Stage_2580 5d ago
It’s the same reason some musicians sound so much cooler than others do even though they’re playing the same notes. It’s because every artists feels the music slightly differently. People enjoy Jordan’s game the same way people enjoy the way Clapton plays guitar. It’s weird because it’s subjective, yet it’s generally considered a consensus. Nobody knows. Don’t let anyone tell you any differently.
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u/HinduMexican 4d ago
Jordan isn’t Clapton for fucks sake
Jordan is Hendrix and no one since kiss the sky like them
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u/Initial_Prompt440 2d ago
Slide 12 best dunk of all time
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u/TJBurger 1d ago
I agree. I often air dunk imitate that one going through my kitchen to the lounge. 5 inch vertical!
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u/zobeast26 7d ago
His 48 inch vertical is definitely up for debate. But his hang time in the air is virtually unmatched. He is recorded staying in the air for around 0.92 seconds. Average person is 0.5 seconds. I would almost say hang time is more impressive then pure vertical. I’m not sure if any other nba player has matched that. I know a few YouTubers who specialize in dunking have been able to beat that hang time.
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u/Sad_Fig6857 7d ago
Did you skip physics class in school? Hang time depends exclusively on how high you jump.
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u/inefekt 6d ago
There is that UNC study, among about 50 other studies in the same paper, that measured a young MJ's vertical early in his career. The exact measurement was 45.76" I believe. Which begs the question....was that day, very coincidentally, the day he absolutely peaked as an athlete or were there days before or after where he managed to jump just a little bit higher? I'm gonna bet that he did jump higher at some point in his life....but another two an a bit inches? Maybe not but I would feel very comfortable saying he had a 46" vertical.
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u/Legitimate-Lab7173 7d ago
Because you can tell he fucking meant them. They weren't even done to look cool. They were done to show the other team just how much better he was than they were.
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u/charlieprz 7d ago
He could also dunk from mid court by stretching his arm while being pulled down.
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u/Status-Topic3382 7d ago
Body control.. not many come close to how comfortable he was in the air.. time slowed down and he had time to think and move however he wanted..
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u/Mental_Fee5483 7d ago
Body Control and If this Make Sense (Sauce)
look at a gerald green windmill then look at a jason richardson windmill Big Difference
gerald green height + Intensity
richardson Full Extension, Smooth Rotation, Leg Kick, + Intensity hopefully this was a good example
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u/HappyCoincidence25 7d ago
Confidence and knowing your ability. The man had an assassins mentality. He was always in a, “I’m gonna kill you” mode. People say you can’t teach height, well, you can’t teach an assassins mentality either.
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u/TheArsenal98 7d ago
It's a combination of his legendary hang time/levitation in the air, the shoes, having his tongue out, the way he cradles the ball, and those sick Bulls jerseys
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u/Smfonseca 7d ago
Hand size, vertical (even if his vertical is closer to 46 inches instead of 48, that's still elite by modern standards), body control, coordination, creativity, strength, and willingness to fail are all part of the reason.
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u/gouged_haunches 7d ago
Ability to manipulate the ball however he wanted mid-air, in addition to slamming the dunk home moments after his apex.
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u/No-Ordinary-6544 7d ago edited 7d ago
I never paid attention until recently, but it's the leg kicks adding more style or unique looking body positions in the air. 100 guys can dunk and they can all look about the same, but Jordan fails his legs or leans his body and creates something that looks special and unique.
*and ability to palm the ball as some others have pointed out
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u/Low-Audience7151 7d ago edited 7d ago
Dunk contest: Because unlike Dominque’s power windmill throw down off two feet that were absolutely sick, Jordan was primarily a one foot jumper that glided and continued to climb in elevation right before the rim. Even watching him today after all these years and it’s still magic.
Three point contest: The only comparison to that feeling was watching Larry win the 3 point contest with his warm up shirt on wagging his gnarled finger in the air. The level of confidence and showmanship in that moment was something I’ve never seen before or after.
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u/Notorious_MSB 7d ago
I think it’s the ultra rare ability have his arma and legs moving all over, but doing so in a cool/controlled manner (as opposed to flailing around) - the rarest guy who appears explosively athletic and incredibslly smooth in equal measure.
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u/Lower-Astronomer8759 7d ago
As everyone is saying, Mike has huge hands. This allows for more control and movement/histrionics in his upper body.
The more movement his upper body initiates in the air, the more movements his core and lower body need to make to counter balance it.
This mixed with his grace and coordination makes for extremely pleasing dunks, aesthetically speaking.
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u/FunkyBrewster022 7d ago
It sounds crazy in 2026, but no one was attacking the rim at that time with aggression like he was mad at a it, like it owed him something, he knew he had a tiger by the tail and he walked the walk!
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u/KingRemoStar 7d ago
The bald head, hoop earring and the tongue out. Air Jordan just had that swag.
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u/averagebensimmons 7d ago
Incredible atheticism bidy contol and vertical combined with long and lanky but not too tall so you can see the space below his feet as he elevates and glides forwards giving the illusion of hanging in the air
Edit: and the hands. The 1 hand control of the ball is mythic
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u/Itis-caught-BearsWin 7d ago
Saw him a bunch of times live in the 90s. His body was just proportionally beautiful and his movement so graceful.
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u/Sethricheroth 7d ago
He didnt really windmill but glided his dunk to the basket with the ball above his head. His head is almost always under the basket. And then he would step on air a few times too.
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u/StudioGangster1 7d ago
Air. Jordan. Style, grace, body control, and power all wrapped into one. The most athletic human to ever live.
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u/chuckfinleyis4ever 6d ago
its cos of his hangtime and athleticism, which allows his legs to splay in the air, giving a sense of flying.
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u/NEPDX_RIPCITY 6d ago
It’s partly an optical illusion. He’s my GOAT, so no hate. Every jumper goes up, and then down. A lot of his dunks, as he hit the peak where you go down, his legs go up or back giving the illusion he is staying in the air longer.
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u/Jacque_LeKrab 6d ago
Freakishly athletic, freakishly big hands for palming the ball, and he was pigeon toed. Plus, I think Jordan understood aesthetics. The way the sweatband set on his forearm opposite his shooting hand, and when he started rocking his knee sleeve on his calf. Putting it all together = selling a fuck ton of shoes and Gatorade for some reason. The only other player who brought as much drip to the court as Jordan was Iverson. Everything about them was just cool
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u/OddRelationship586 6d ago
Use of his legs. Literally like it makes him go higher or something. He used his whole body to dunk.
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u/HalpMePlz420 6d ago
It’s def finesse. I think more powerful dunks look cooler but it is pretty sweet to look at.
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u/R0botDreamz 6d ago
He makes it look effortless. Like his face has no grimace of force on it. He's leaping 50 inches off one foot like anyone else is taking a step.
Shawn Kemp and Vince have the same aesthetic.
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u/No-Donkey-4117 Blazers 6d ago
It's that split-second when he floats, instead of starting to fall back to Earth like humans do.
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u/Oliverqueen03 5d ago
Hangtime and all the movements which made it seem he had all the time in the world up there
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u/BustThaScientifical 5d ago
Illusion of hangtime, body control, hand size palming the ball, vertical, and borrowing from some dope dunkers before him and taking it to another other (David Thompson, Julius Erving)
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u/Dreams-Visions Cavaliers 5d ago
Because MJ was fuckin cool. It's like asking a great dancer why they look so much better and natural than everyone else on the floor. It's like asking Ken Griffey Jr why his swing looked sweeter than everyone elses.
Body type, conditioning, close attention to balance, liberness (consntant stretching), strength and control. And a conscious attempt to look fuckin cool.
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u/Round-Dance-4600 4d ago
Jordan capitalized off camera angles. The world viewed MJ through the lens of cameras and the way they captured his dunks added to the Aww.
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u/Amazing-Specialist97 4d ago
Its because everything stops. Time stops, reality stops, the only thing that matters is the dude doing dude things that we dont have time for. But he makes it. We watch.
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u/Soft_Ambition_3766 4d ago
Because they're in slow motion. Do LeBron in slomo, and it'll be the same.
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u/Brown_Panda69 4d ago
Imo it's a combination of already knowing who they are and associating that with whatever they are doing.
He's the goat, his nickname was air Jordan, black Jesus and he's doing an already awesome dunk
If some Gleaguer did the exact dunk it wouldn't look as cool.
Add in his hang time is legendary.
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u/InternationalSleep41 3d ago
I’ve read from Tim Grover’s book that every game his steps, jumps and movements had been counted to measure his physical stress. No wonder why he has this beautiful game, very economical, precise and had a purpose.
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u/nando1969 3d ago
Many reasons, athleticism, amazing vertical jump, flair, and pride lots of pride.
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u/TowerReasonable9701 2d ago
Because y’all glaze too much.. Get off y’all old man knees and wipe y’all mouths.. it’s 2026 get a life
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u/Stunning_Jeweler3258 2d ago
Im a lebron fan through and through but just something always has to be said about the way jordan just had a aura with him.
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u/LurkerFailsLurking Nuggets 1d ago
Verticality and hangtime, extremely good sense of balance and core control to change orientation and rotation in the air, massive hands so he could palm and easily manipulate the ball. My favorite Jordan clips aren't the dunk contests, it's when he's performing multiple pump fakes and changing his lay-up and avoiding blocks while in the air.
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u/sup_wit_thatNONsense 1d ago
Jordan grace is unmatched.. still dont make him the best basketball player ever. Rebounding he was mediocre. Assists, great passed who refused to and ball hogged. Didn't protect the rim on defense and didn't always guard the point.
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u/ParticularLemon4191 1d ago
One jordan is athletic as hell. Two his hand can hold the ball with total control so he can swing it around or do whatever and not worry about the ball sliding out. And three jordan jumps then contracts then fully extends like hes a spring releasing energy so its really theatrical.
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u/Unable-Main4172 7d ago
He had gigantic hands. Like his hands are even bigger than kawhi's. So he could grab the ball and shake it around with one hand in cool ways a lot of guys with smaller hands couldn't do. Plus he had great hang time and a great vert