Classic Sports.
I watched the ‘85-’88 Slam Dunk Contests today. ‘Nique won in 1985. Jordan looked very young, chomping gum and wearing multiple gold chains. 1986 has always been my favorite. Spud Webb in Reunion Arena (no, I wasn’t there). 1987, Jordan won his first, then stole it from ‘Nique in Chicago in 1988, although it wasn’t as lopsided as 12 year old Jim might have thought. The dunks were not nearly as high in wow-factor as you may think. A lot of double pumps, windmills, kissing the rim, and catching it off the glass. Awesome for then, not so much for now. Makes you wonder what kids are going to be doing to wow us in 25 years from now. The thing that was most interesting to me was that at the end of the 1985 video, David Stern made a quick appearance. Somehow, as a basketball and NBA fan for as long as I have been, I forget that Stern has been commissioner the whole time. As much as I may hate some of the things about Stern and the league, you gotta give him credit for longevity, which wouldn’t be possible if he hadn’t done a lot of things right during his tenure. It’s kinda cool to have that kind of legacy, but at those kids impressing us in 25 years probably won’t even know who he is. It’s all ephemeral, kid.
Cool coupla links for those that haven’t seen ‘em:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T2QRpmjRmQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suas0jhcPNI
August 25th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I didn’t mention that while Jordan may have whipped out his dunk from the FT line every year, it was still impressive. Would have been more so if he had retired it or improved it, but it’s still beautiful every time.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:37 am
I hate David Stern and his “NBA fashion issues.” - Nas