NBA Slam Dunk Contest Regains Some Luster
1 Comments Published by Rachel Thomas on Sunday, February 20, 2005 at 5:13 PM.
Each year, at the NBA All Star Weekend, the league hosts a number of specialty events, each designed to hype the sport and the NBA. The highlight of those events at one time was the Slam Dunk Contest, where NBA stars Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan and little man Spud Webb stole the show with their amazing feats of athletic skill.
However, this one time marquee event had lost its sparkle in recent years. The contest no longer drew NBA stars and it seemed that every kind of dunk imaginable had already been performed, with many dunks merely a repeat of what fans saw in regular season games.
But at the 2005 contest, some unknown NBA players brought back memories of past dunk contests. This year’s entrants combined a strong touch of showmanship with amazing athletic skills to restore some luster to the event.
Amare Stoudamire of the Phoenix Suns demonstrated exceptional creativity with a dunk that included two ricochets and the assistance of teammate, Steve Nash. Starting from the right side of the lane area, Stoudamire hurled the ball at the backboard, the ball bouncing off the board in the direction of Nash. Carefully repositioning himself, Nash demonstrated some excellent soccer skills, “heading” the ball back towards the basket area. Stoudamire, on the full run, caught the ball and turning 180 degrees in the air, did a one hand throw down dunk.
As good as Stoudamire was, the night belonged to Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks. Paying tribute to former dunk champions Julius Erving and Dominique Wilkins, Smith performed the signature dunks of those two NBA stars. In tribute to Erving, Smith began with a full court sprint before leaping into the air at the foul line and soaring all the way to the basket and the dunk. For Wilkins, it was the signature windmill slam, taking the ball in both hands down to the vicinity of his feet before bringing the ball back up for the slam. Prior to executing the dunk, in full tribute to the former Atlanta Hawk, Smith conspicuously removed his own jersey to reveal a replica of the NBA uniform of Wilkins, complete with Dominique’s number and name.
The dunk of the night also belonged to Smith who brought the house down with his second jam. Again, using a lengthy sprint Smith headed to the basket and the foul lane area where Kenyon Martin sat in a metal chair holding a basketball. As Smith approached, Martin tossed the ball upward. Smith once again launched himself skyward, leaping completely over Martin and the chair, catching the ball and slamming it home at the same time.
With his efforts, Smith took home top honors while Stoudamire also gave fans a show with his creativity. More importantly for the NBA, the shine reemerged on this event and the Slam Dunk contest was once again a highlight of All Star Weekend.
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Interesting tid-bit: Steve Nash's brother Martin actually plays professional soccer. Maybe he gave Steve a few lessons on "heading" the ball.