Loved him! Modeled my game after him. Many didn’t know that even at 6 8 he could not jump high enough to dunk but won rebounding crown year after year. He had a geometry machine in his head. Rodman watched hour after hour of him to become the great rebounder he was. RIP DOLPH YOU WERE GREST TO WATCH!
I'm pretty sure Schayes could have easily dunked a basketball. He was 6'8 and one of the best rebounders in the game. I actually saw Schayes play on tv in the early sixties and lately watched him on YouTube clips.
There is one prolonged clip of Schayes showing his highlights. On a number of clips his hands are clearly at rim level. If you're 6'8 and can get off the floor a little bit, you can dunk. Schayes wasn't a great leaper, but he did have a decent vertical from the clips. That means that unless he exceptionally short arms (and he probably had average-sized arms), he probably could have easily dunked if he wanted to.
The myth about fifties players not being able to dunk is bs. In fact, the myth was propagated by some players from that era like George Yardley who was one of the few fifties players who frequently dunked. Yardley claimed George Mikan couldn't dunk a basketball.
If you check the videos on YouTube there's one of Mikan casually strolling up to the basket and jamming it. He was 6'10 and could get off his feet. Mikan could probably have dunked from a standing jump without too much difficulty.
It's just that few players from that era thought about dunking. But I would bet at least half or more of the players from the fifties could dunk.