NCAA National Championship tomorrow and the Jonas Valanciunas Invitational NBA Play-In Tournament just over a week away — it really is postseason basketball time!

In the spirit of Easter, we’re giving you the top 5 players with the best bunnies in the league. Here are the players who took gravity as more of a suggestion than a law and marked the highest NBA Draft Combine max vertical leap numbers this century. 

1. Keon Johnson: 48.0 inches
We’re anointing Johnson official Bugs Bunny status. This is so laughably higher than the rest of the field, it almost looks like one of those old Wilt Chamberlain stats you’re not 100% sure is true. Shoutout to Keon.

T-2. Hamidou Diallo: 44.5 inches
We remember Diallo giving us flashes of Vince Carter on his way to a dunk contest in 2019. Hami was a solid wing for the Thunder during that period.

T-2. Jericho Sims: 44.5 inches
Big-man bounce often goes underrated, but we’re giving it the respect it deserves! Sims is bouncy, and it’s nuts he can post the same vert as a wiry wing like Diallo.

T-4. Pat Connaughton: 44.0 inches
White Man Can Jump!! Connaughton is a specimen of an athlete, getting drafted in the MLB and the NBA out of Notre Dame and carving out a long NBA career for himself.

T-4. Kay Felder: 44.0 inches
*best Mike Korzemba voice*: Is Kay Felder Celtics Isaiah Thomas with a 40 inch vertical? We genuinely remember thinking he was the steal of the draft, but still, at 5-foot-9, the Oakland grad can get UP there!

Not every insane leaper becomes a star. Vertical jump is not the same thing as feel, skill, or hustle. But it does tap into one of the best parts of basketball: the joy of seeing somebody do something that looks just a little impossible. Its part of why a generation fell in love with Michael Jordan, and part of why we all love this game. Happy Easter!

The NBA honored Karl-Anthony Towns with the February Community Assist Award, highlighting a few different lanes of impact: helping families in New York stay warm, backing youth development in the Dominican Republic, and continuing to show up in social justice spaces.

Towns worked with partners to help deliver hundreds of coats to families in need across New York City, with donations going through SCO Family of Services. He also took time to meet with young people connected to the effort, which gave the whole initiative a more personal feel than just a standard check-the-box charity campaign.

KAT’s reach has also extended well beyond New York. The Knicks star and former interviewer of Kevin Durant has been a major force behind plans for a new basketball facility in the Dominican Republic, helping drive a multi-million-dollar funding push tied to youth training and recreation.

On top of that, Towns has stayed active in social justice leadership. He continues to serve with the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition and has been involved in storytelling and programming tied to the NBA’s effort to honor the league’s first Black players.

The award also comes with a $20K donation from the NBA and NBPA Foundation to the Dominican Women’s Development Center, which Towns said will help support mothers, children, and families through services like daycare, mental health care, and healthcare support.

Nikola Jokic is such an enigma. Drafted during a Taco Bell commercial and became an all-timer. Leads the NBA in assists and rebounds. He’s making a run at his fourth MVP award with nearly a 20-20-20 game… and he comes to the podium in minion crocs.

Meanwhile, his rival MVP candidate is coming to the arena in designer head to toe, which is cool too, but there’s something to be said for the insane level of not having a care. The guy doesn’t even have social media! Shoutout Joker.

Great spending a Sunday with you! Hoping the Easter Bunny (Keon Johnson) leaves you something special

Conor Geelan