It was a foggy night in Dallas, Texas on February 8, 1986, with temperatures barely above freezing. But inside the Reunion Arena, home of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, nobody cared about the weather outside. The following night would be the National Basketball Association’s annual All-Star Game, but that night, February 8th, the focus was on the highlight of the night: the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
16,573 people gathered in Reunion Arena to watch the contest, and the excitement was palpable. Everyone wanted to see a show, and they were about to see the greatest show ten feet off the ground.
The lineup for the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest was an assortment of some of the best athletes in the NBA at that time. Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks was the clear favourite to win that year. He had won the 1985 Contest and was a star of the NBA. Nicknamed “the Human Highlight Reel”, Wilkins was six feet, eight inches of sheer athleticism.
The rest of the lineup for that night included Roy Hinson, Jerome Kersey, Paul Pressey, Terence Stansbury, Terry Tyler, Spud Webb, Gerald Wilkins, and Orlando Woolridge (who was injured and could not actually participate in the contest). Here is a list of each athlete and their height:
- Roy Hinson: 6’9″
- Jerome Kersey: 6’7″
- Paul Pressey: 6’5″
- Terence Stansbury: 6’5″
- Terry Tyler: 6’7″
- Spud Webb: 5’7″
- Dominique Wilkins: 6’8″
- Gerald Wilkins: 6’6″
- Orlando Woolridge: 6’9″
When you read that list, you probably think that there is a typo. There isn’t. Spud Webb was five feet, seven inches, a full ten inches shorter than the next shortest competitor, and 13 inches shorter than his teammate, Dominique Wilkins. What in the world was he doing there?
It turns out that Spud Webb, while short (especially by NBA standards where the average player height in 1986 was 6’7″), had a huge jump. By huge, I mean his vertical leap was measured at 46 inches. To put that in perspective, the average vertical leap for a male today is 16-20 inches; anything over 28 inches is considered excellent. In NBA history, the best vertical leap recorded belongs to Wilt Chamberlain and Darrell Griffith at 48 inches. Right behind them, in a five-way tie, are Michael Jordan, Zach LaVine, Jason Richardson, James White, and Spud Webb.
So Spud Webb may be short, but he had one of the best vertical leaps in NBA history (or, if you believe the rumours that he could actually jump as high as 50 inches, he had the highest vertical leap in the NBA). This comparably short man was competing with literal giants.
The NBA Slam Dunk Contest of 1986 was comprised of three rounds: a first round, a semifinal, and a final. Since Dominique Wilkins was the clear favourite and defending champion, he was given a bye for the first round and moved directly into the semifinal. The rest of the contestants had three dunks to perform. Each dunk was worth up to 50 points, and the points were combined to give a final score. The top three scores would move up to the semifinal to join Dominique Wilkins. The semifinal would be the same: three dunks worth up to 50 points each, and the two highest totals would move on to the finals.
Before the first round, all eight competitors warmed up on the court as 16,573 spectators looked on. The spectators knew they were about to watch the proverbial David take on seven Goliaths, and they loved it. What made it even better was that their David (Spud Webb) was a local boy. That’s right: Spud Webb was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and it was here that he would make his Slam Dunk Contest debut.
At the end of the first round, Spud Webb (who, let’s remember, is about an average of a foot shorter than his opponents), finishes with the top score and easily moves to the semifinals. Also advancing are Gerald Wilkins and Terence Stansbury. Webb’s teammate, Dominique Wilkins, who didn’t dunk in the first round, is waiting for them.
The second round gets interesting. On his first dunk of the round, Webb scores a perfect 50, the first perfect score of the night. His next two dunks are still spectacular, but not perfect, and Webb ends up tying his teammate, Dominique Wilkins, for the top spot with 138 points apiece. Both Atlanta Hawks players advance to the final round.
By now the crowd is going crazy. Their unlikely hometown hero just made it to the final round of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and not only is he the shortest player in the NBA at the time (Muggsy Bogues at 5’3″ would be drafted in 1987 to become the shortest NBA player of all-time), but he is also a rookie. The crowd loves him. America loves him.
The final round of the Slam Dunk Contest allows contestants two dunks instead of three, and the points are combined for a total score out of 100. Spud Webb goes first. The crowd chants his name over and over. And he gets his second 50 point dunk of the night.
Dominique Wilkins goes next. The reigning champ shows why he is the best and scores a perfect 50 of his own, tying the two up with one dunk left to go. Then Webb turns into a monster and scores his second straight 50. The crowd can barely contain themselves, and the announcers are shocked. Finally, Wilkins comes up for his final dunk. If he scores a 50, he sends the contest into a sudden death “dunk-off”. He performs his dunk and the crowd waits with bated breath. The score comes up on the screen: 48. Spud Webb has won.
Spud Webb remains the shortest person to have won the dunk contest (and the shortest person to compete in the contest), and he did it in his rookie year. Three years later (after two wins by Michael Jordan in a row), in 1989, Webb returned to the Slam Dunk Contest for the first time, where he finished third. That was the last time he competed in the Slam Dunk Contest. But that doesn’t really matter. Because for one day, Spud Webb didn’t just live like a giant, he became a giant.
Dynamic Lessons
While Spud Webb may have literally lived like a giant, the lessons we can learn from him are far more important than basketball.
- The only person who has to believe in you is you. Nobody who was watching the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest actually expected Spud Webb to beat Dominique Wilkins. Even Wilkins, who was Webb’s teammate, had never seen Webb dunk. But that didn’t matter, because Webb knew what he could do.
- You don’t have to be a giant to live like one. In this world, you will be faced with plenty of reasons why you can’t be a giant. You might not have the connections, the resources, the capital, the opportunity, or the time to become a giant in your industry. So don’t try to be a giant. You can’t change who you are. But you can change who you become. Take that leap and live like a giant. Fake it. By the time anyone notices you don’t belong, you’ll already be making a name for yourself.
Has there been a time when you lived like a giant and it paid off for you? What about when it didn’t? Take some time and tell us a story in the comments!
