Slam Dunk Contest stories in the SI Vault
NEW YORK (AP) -- Blake Griffin is bringing his ferocious dunks to the slam dunk contest.
Men's College Hoops Preview stories in the SI Vault
Team USA has not won a gold medal at the FIBA World Championship since 1994, when Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller and Dominique Wilkins powered Dream Team II to an 8-0 record in Toronto. Ending the 16-year drought will be a tall task. With the 2010 tournament scheduled to begin Aug. 28, here are five questions the U.S. team will have to answer in Turkey. (Note that the U.S. has to make one more cut by next Thursday to bring its roster to 12 players.)
Dakota Simms practices his jump shot for hours every week. Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins offers up advice.
Darryl Dawkins, like many teen sports prodigies, wasn't afraid to join the professional ranks as a youngster.
Nary a day goes by that someone Dominique Wilkins doesn't know, someone he's never met before, tells him how much the former Atlanta Hawk's dunks meant to him as a basketball fan or, at least, thrilled him as a television viewer. Sometimes this stranger is talking about highlight plays from serious NBA action, Hawks vs. Celtics, Hawks vs. Sixers, of the sort that earned Wilkins his nickname (the Human Highlight Film). More often than not, it's some gush or other about the slam dunk contest from All-Star weekend, the event on which Wilkins put his signature from its inception in 1984.
Taunting, like cooking, is more art than science. A dash of wit mixed with harmless intent is acceptable to the palate, but a dollop of torment tossed with cruelty is distasteful. Here's a sampling of how overly active and mean-spirited college basketball fans have humiliated players and their families over the years.
Shawn Kemp once described dunking as "better than sex," and as the father of numerous children by numerous women, he should know. In general, though, I found that dunkers tend to downplay the act. After all, for them it's both easy and natural. What's there to talk about? Ask them enough questions, however, and they start talking. Here are dunkers on dunking:
It's the summer of 1989, and Chris Webber is about to dunk on my head. We're in Palo Alto, Calif., at something called the Stanford High Potential Basketball Camp, but it's fair to say the high potential designation applies to only one of us. Webber, a broad-shouldered, 6' 8" high school sophomore, is already one of the top prospects in the country; later in the week he will win the camp dunk contest by throwing down a leaning 360 that causes Stanford men's hoops coach Mike Montgomery to look as if he's just found religion. I, on the other hand, am a skinny, 5' 10" sophomore with a questionable left hand.
SI.com: It'll be a slam dunkupdated: Wed Feb 14 2007 12:06:00
I know. You're skipping the Slam Dunk contest because it'll never be as good as it once was ... because you've seen every dunk before ... because today's players are punks with too many tattoos. Well, I got news for you: This year promises to be the most exciting one of the last decade.
Thursday night, we officially launched Fit Nation. We simply could not believe the response. The buzz in the room was palpable and you felt this tidal wave of anticipation from the students -- all anxious to get something done.
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