The NBA draft combine is currently taking place in Chicago until May 18th. Draft prospects are either making a strong impression with their performance during drills and workouts or falling short of expectations.
Johni Broome found himself in the spotlight on Thursday due to his underwhelming vertical jump. The Auburn standout recorded a standing vertical leap of 24.5 inches during testing.
Comparatively, top projected pick Cooper Flagg achieved a standing vertical jump of 35.5 inches. VJ Edgecombe, ranked fourth on Yahoo Sports’ NBA Draft big board, surpassed that with a 38.5 inch jump.
Several detractors on social media also highlighted that Broome’s jump was lower than massive Florida defensive tackle Desmond Watson, who weighs 464 pounds and jumped 25 inches at the NFL combine.
However, one of the harshest responses came from language learning platform Duolingo. The app’s social media account quote-tweeted a video of Broome’s jump and suggested “Learn Chinese and try Super Duolingo today!”
Many NBA fans recognized the reference to a popular meme from 2022. The meme featured a fake quote from NBA commissioner Adam Silver warning players to “Get ready to learn Chinese, buddy” if they continued controversial behavior or poor performance.
Standing at 6-foot-10, Broome is projected as a late second-round pick in Kevin O’Connor’s mock draft for Yahoo Sports, ranking at No. 45 on the big board.
Despite being a standout player in college basketball last season, averaging 18.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks, questions about Broome’s athleticism and shooting skills (shooting 28% on 3-pointers) have raised concerns about his draft position. It’s likely he will be selected in the second round, or as the Duolingo post humorously suggested, potentially go undrafted and pursue opportunities in the G League or overseas.