Among all the things you can do as a professional athlete—hitting a homer; throwing a touchdown pass; making a no-look pass, or striking someone out with a 100-mile per hour fastball—it may be that stuffing a basketball down a rim and through and a net is the coolest.
That’s why it’s so amazing that the most outrageous dunks ever were thrown down by Spud Webb.
At the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Week, Webb showed off his astounding leaping ability. At just 5’5 inches tall, Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb was the smallest competitor in that Slam Dunk Contest. But he left the others looking up at him, as he won with several top-ranked dunks.
1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Video
Webb’s teammate on the Hawks, Dominique Wilkins, a former Slam Dunk champion, was shocked. He’d never seen Webb dunk a basketball before. Ironically, Webb was the one who eliminated Dominique from the competition.
Hawks coach Mike Fratello said, “Spud kind of duped him. He told Wilkins he never had anything prepared, didn’t practice for it. So, Wilkins maybe thought his normal assortment would be good enough to get through”.
Spud’s masterpiece was a reverse two-handed strawberry jam from a lob bounce off the floor. Tell us what you think of the ’86 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and Spud in the comments section.
