Something truly memorable and a bit of a shock happened at the 1986 NBA All Star Games Slam Dunk contest when a relatively short 5’7″ NBA player dominated all the other entrants with his high-flying dunks that were they won the hearts of everyone there.Spud Webb was the shortest among the contestants who were over 6 feet tall, but everyone agreed that his dunk was the highlight of the competition and that’s why he was awarded the first prize.
The contest was made more interesting because Spud Webb was facing his Atlanta Hawks teammate Dominique Wilkins at the time. Wilkins was the winner of the dunk contest the year before, so he was the man to beat. The air was thick with excitement as Wilkins aka Human Highlight Film took on the short Webb.
But unfortunately, Webb was declared the winner of that night’s tournament. This was considered a huge achievement and literally one for the books. Spud Webb set an all-time record for being the shortest NBA star to join and win the contest, beating out some truly incredible slam dunkers.
Although Spud Webb is not really well known to today’s NBA fan base, videos of almost all NBA stars are available on many online video sharing sites. We can still watch and see how the little NBA star of the Atlanta Hawks. Spud Webb’s winning dunk can be downloaded online for all to see. Watch how he took down one of the game’s all-time greats, Dominique Wilkins.
humble beginnings
Spud Webb soon realized that playing basketball was his path to a better life. Born into poverty, he had a great playing career at Wilmer-Hutchins High School, where he averaged 26 points.
During his early college years, he went to Midland College of Texas, where he showed off his scoring progress in a final game with Florida’s Miami-Dade North. He finished that game with 36 points that got his name printed in an issue of Sports Illustrated. After that, he transferred to North Carolina State University.
Webb’s entry into the NBA was without fanfare and at first appeared to have been short-lived. He was selected in the fourth round by the Detroit Pistons, but the team later cut him from the roster. But the Atlanta Hawks saw the potential in him and invited him to try out for them. They liked what they saw and signed him for the 1985-1986 season. He played for the Hawks for 6 years until he moved to the Sacramento Kings in the 1991-1992 season. Spud finished his stint with the Kings in 1995 and then bounced from team to team, even returning once to Atlanta. He played his last NBA game as the Orlando Magic in 1998.
Spud Webb’s 10+ year professional basketball career was an incredible success story of triumph over any physical limitation. He achieved his dreams by jumping higher than his competition that night in the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk championship.
Currently working as a motivational speaker, Webb is now helping other people achieve what they believe cannot be done, just as he did in his wonderful athletic career.