There really ain't too many people with a 40" SVJ. Theres like a few in NFL, such as maurice covington, and basically 0 in the NBA. Maybe Gerald green, but i doubt it. And maurice has killer genetics, plus 6'5 body frame with longer limbs to propel himself up in the air.
Let's look at asians.
1. Frank yang, mental patient bodybuilder nutcase, not even pro athlete or advanced athlete, but bodybuilder hits 40' SVJ
2. kingfish, just a dedicated working man, not a pro athlete.
3. myself, i don't have a 40" SVJ yet, but i'm pretty sure i'll get there at the rate i'm going. I started training late @ 27 and after 1.5 years, I increased SVJ by 6 inches, and still @ 25% BF!!!
The reason why asians are the king of the SVJ is because 1) they have shorter tibia, which allows them to squat and train better 2) they have been known to be more flexible and once again that helps with doing solid squats. a lot of the world class gymnasts and contortionists are chinese. 3) there fast twitch muscle fibers aren't as good as people of west african descent, but it is certainly better than people of kenyan descent, who have the least amt of fast twitch fibers and the most slow twitch fibers (hence they always win the marathons). So muscle fiber is not great, but not bad.
4. CNS-- asians have superior cns compared to other races. there is a sport that takes tremendous reflexes and reaction time. it is called pingpong. and the chinese just annilate everyone. have you ever seen a pro chinese pingpong match live? i have, and the truth is, you can't even see the ball. all you see is 2 guys slamming @ the air and it almost hurts your neck. another example is kungfu. man these guys have sick reflexes.