This Insane Heave From The Spanish League May Very Well Be The Longest Made Shot In Professional Basketball History

NurPhoto. Getty Images.

I know, I know. It's football Sunday and blah blah blah. But you know what? Sometimes you can be finding your own business, drinking your morning coffee while scrolling the timeline and something comes across your desk that makes you spit out the coffee you were actually drinking. A truly "holy shit" type of post. For me, that will always be the case when I come across any sort of basketball moment that stops me in my tracks. Oftentimes, it's Wemby doing something that melts my brain. He had more of that shit the other night in the latest Spurs preseason game by the way. Hakeem Olajuwon has created a monster, so that's fun.

But the beauty of the game of basketball being a global sport is the fact that these holy shit moments can come from anywhere in the world. Take for example, what I think might be the longest recorded made shot in basketball history

This play comes from Rafa Luz, a player for MoraBanc Andorra who plays in the ACB. For those of you who have no idea what the fuck I just said, Liga ACB is the top professional division of the Spanish basketball league system. 

Now, because I care about integrity and not jsut throwing around hyperbole, I put on my Big J journo hat once again and decided to actually investigate if this heave actually was the longest recorded shot in basketball history. To my brain it definitely felt like the longest shot I've ever seen, and I've see a lot of basketball shots in my day. 

First things first. Determining the launch point. This was an important step in my investigation, because if we're talking about the longest made shot in basketball history, where it starts from is, in my scientific opinion (ASU grad), a key component. 

So, we're talking about right here

What we now have to answer, is if this is the longest made shot in basketball history. To do that, I first think we should be a little more specific. What I'm curious about is the longest made shot in an actual game. I'm not talking about the Steph bombs that he makes from the tunnel in warm-ups. I'm not talking about Joshua Walker's 113-foot Guinness World Record where he threw it from out of bounds on the baseline. I'm talking about in a real game, who has the longest shot?

In NBA history, there are a few candidates. To this day, I'm still haunted by being in the 3rd row at the Garden when LeBron hit this 83-footer right in my goddamn eyeball.

Magic Johnson had an 84-footer during the 1987 playoffs against the Nuggets in Game 1. Pretty decent shot if you ask me

And yet, an 83 and 84-footer still aren't the longest recorded shot in NBA history. I'd say take note from where LeBron and Magic launched from and then compare it to that play from the ACB. We're at least talking about a shot in the high 80s in terms of distance.

If those two still aren't the longest, then what is? 

The longest made shot in NBA history comes via Baron Davis, and this 89-footer

Now the important part. Let's get a look at the official launch point

And what does it look like side by side?

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The different angles make it tough, not to mention the footage of Baron Davis' shot was basically shot on a potato, but am I crazy to think this is about as close as you could possibly get? At the very least, it's pretty eerie that these two shots essentially came from the same spot. The more I look at it, the more I feel myself leaning to the side that Baron Davis might be slightly closer to the baseline, but it's certainly close enough for me not to really give a shit. I'm calling the ACB heave at least 89 feet, which would mean it ties the longest recorded made shot in history.

Did I expect to do a deep dive on NBA heaves as a result of some random clip I saw from the Spanish League this morning? No, I can't say that I did. But you know what? We all need to find ways to kill time before the full football slate starts, and with basketball starting up on Tuesday, you could say I'm a tad excited.

P.S.

The only thing I could find that was recorded longer than 89ft, was this prayer from Bruce Morris while playing for Marshall in 1985 from college, and his was recorded at 89ft and 10 inches