But I'm not going to lie... deep down inside, I've always wanted to dunk the ball like Spud Webb. At 5'6"... this guy made a name for himself a quarter of a century ago, when he beat his teammate Dominique Wilkins to win the 1986 Slam Dunk contest.
Every dunk was amazing. Okay... so he didn't dunk two balls or three balls like JaVale McGee. No hanging by the arm or ball under the leg dunks like Vince Carter either. He didn't grab a teddy bear with his mouth and dunk at the same time like Serge Ibaka. Nor did he jump over anyone like Nate Robinson. He didn't pull out a blindfold like Cedric Ceballos. And he didn't jump over a car like this year's champion... Mr. Blake Griffin.
Nope... he won it the way it was meant to be won. No gimmicks... just three things... talent, creativity, and heart.
Well tonight... in honor of Anthony "Spud" Webb's 1986 Slam Dunk Contest victory... I have for you my Spud Webb Sports Card Trifecta.
Rookie Card: 1986-87 Fleer #120
Autographed Card: 2009-10 Sp Signature
"INKredible" #ISW
Memorabilia Card: 2006-07 UD Trilogy
"Generations Past Patches" #PMSW
And before I forget... here's the last card in my Slam Dunk Contest Champions PC... The Human Highlight Film:
Actually... this isn't my card. It's a card from COMC. Unfortunately, I took a some of my nicer cards to my parents house this past Christmas for safe storage... and my 2009-10 Bowman 48 autograph set was part of those cards. Sorry about that... I guess I'm getting old.
Speaking of old... it's getting late. I'd better wrap this up. Congratulations Blake Griffin on winning this year's slam dunk contest. You're definitely one of the best "in game" dunkers the league has to offer.
Okay... tonight's question is:
Who's your all-time favorite "Little Man" in NBA history?
It's pretty obvious that I'm going with Spud... but it's hard not to cheer for Muggsy Bogues too. Let's hear it... who you got?
Have a good evening y'all. Sayonara.
I like Spud and Bogues as much as the next guy, but no one was better than Isiah Thomas. He's not exactly little like Spud or Bogues, but he wasn't a giant. What he was was the best point guard of the 80's not named "Magic". How he was left off that '92 Barcelona Dream Team still mystifies me to this day.
ReplyDeleteNice post. Btw, do you have albums for your card collections already? My son is into baseball and basketball cards as well and one of the first things he asked me to buy him was an album for his collections.
ReplyDeleteDamon Staudamire was my favorite little guy (although maybe your just talking about the REALLY little guys)
ReplyDeletecharles - i hated thomas growing up... especially in the late 80's when detroit dominated the nba. i agree though... that he should have been on the 92 dream team.
ReplyDeletecooldude - lol... it's funny you ask. my collection is all over the place... literally. i have cards in albums and 5000ct. boxes, but my nicer cards are stored in penny sleeves... then put into top loaders... which are inserted into team bags... and put into shoe boxes (boxes made for top loaders).
nathan - i liked stoudamire too and he was definitely short by nba standards... nice call.
You have to love Spud Webb, Mugsy Bogues, Kevin Johnson and Harold Miner. All of them had amazing hops for their size. I was the same as you, growing up I always wanted to dunk but I only could do it with a volleyball. For fun I would got to elementary schools where the hoops were 8ft and have my own little slam dunk marathon. If you ever are board check out this, it's brings back a lot of memories. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbIYkZXH2hk
ReplyDeletekev2380 - lol... even on those 8ft rims i couldn't dunk... but it was cool... it made me work on other aspects of the game.
ReplyDeletegreat video... loved watching hardaways steal and behind the back dish... but my favorite part of the video was watching manute block four shots in a row. that guy was awesome!