When I was a kid, I was short (I’m not the tallest guy now but have learned to deal with it) and Spud Webb was one of my idols. I loved watching Spud, he was a great ballplayer who could score and pass the ball. One of his most famous feats was winning the Slam Dunk Contest in 1986. In 1986, he became the shortest person to compete and win the NBA slam dunk contest.

Despite his excellence on the court, many college scouts thought Spud Webb was too short to compete. Spud got his chance to play in college at Midland College in Texas, where he led them to the national championship in 1982.

Webb was drafted in the fourth round of the 1985 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons (yep, most people don’t know there is a fourth round). However, most people remember him with the Atlanta Hawks, where he and Dominique Wilkins became a great duo in the Eastern Conference.

Webb surprised everyone when he entered the Slam Dunk Contest. Almost everybody thought he was going to lose because he was scheduled to compete against his teammate and slam dunk master, Dominique Wilkins. Dominique (who had never seen Spud Webb dunk before) was very surprised when he learned that Spud had entered the contest. Spud told Wilkins before the contest, that he didn’t practice or have any routines prepared, but that was just a little white lie. Contrary to his pre-contest statements, Spud had an arsenal of dunks ready. His dunks included a two-handed double pump dunk, a one-hand off the backboard one-handed dunk, a 360-helicopter one-handed dunk, and a 180 degree reverse two-handed strawberry jam from a lob bounce pass on the floor that earned him the win.

As for us little guys, it was a great win. I remember everybody talking about Spud the next day at school and every short guy in school wanted to be Spud. Let’s not also forget that he was the shortest player in the history of the NBA until Muggsy Bogues came into the league in 1987.

- The Wanna-be Sports Guy

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Tags | 1986 slam dunk contest, Basketball, Dominique Wilkins, dunk contest, NBA, slam dunk, Spud web