Spud Webb

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Spud2.jpg Anthony Jerome "Spud" Webb (born July 13, 1963 in Dallas, Texas) was an NBA basketball player. Officially listed at 5'7" (170cm), he is one of the shortest in NBA history, but was reported to have a vertical jump of a 42" (108cm).

1 1986 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest
2 Career
3 Trivia
4 Notes
5 External links

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1986 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest

Webb is most famous for his performance in the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He is the shortest player ever to have competed in the NBA Slam Dunk competition. He surprised teammate and defending dunk champion Dominique Wilkins by entering the contest because, according to Webb, "[he'd] never seen me dunk before."Template:Ref His repertoire of dunks included the elevator two-handed double pump dunk, the one-handed off the backboard 1 handed jam, a 360 degree helicopter 1-handed dunk, a 180 degree reverse double-pump slam, and his final masterpiece, the 180 degree reverse two-handed jam from a lob bounce off the floor. He made history that day not only because of his size, but also because he won by defeating Wilkins with 2 perfect 50 scores in the final round. The head coach of Atlanta at that time, Mike Fratello, later confessed that, "Spud kind of duped him. He told Nique he never had anything prepared, didn't practice for it. So therefore, Nique maybe thought his normal assortment would be good enough to get through."

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Career

He did not play on his high school team until his senior year because "the coaches were giving the guys who were seniors the chance to play."Template:Ref However, he did learn to dunk during the summer before his senior year, when he was only 4'11".Template:Ref

After graduating in high school, he was not recruited by most colleges, mainly due to his size. Finally he attended Midland Junior College (in Midland, Texas) where he led his team to the junior college national title in 1982.

Webb attracted the attention of Tom Abatemarco, an assistant coach at North Carolina State University, who arranged for Webb to meet the Head Coach, Jim Valvano. Valvano was impressed enough to offer Webb a scholarship to N.C. State. In two years at State, Spud averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 assists per game.

He played most of his NBA career with the Atlanta Hawks, but also had stints with the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic. He retired from basketball in 1998. He averaged 9.9 points per game over his 12 year NBA career.

Currently, Webb lives in Dallas, where he appears on pre-game and post-game shows for the Dallas Mavericks on a local TV station.

Webb, along with Greg Grant and Keith Jennings, is the third-shortest player in NBA history. Only Earl Boykins (5'5") and Muggsy Bogues (5'3") are shorter.

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Trivia

Webb was used as a prop by New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson in the 2006 Slam Dunk Contest. Robinson had him toss up the ball in the air, in which Robinson proceeded to catch the ball, jump over Webb, and slam the ball. That dunk was given a "50". Robinson went on to win the competition, making him the first player under six feet in 20 years to win the competition. The last player who did it was Webb, in the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest, and celebrated the 20th anniversary of his win.

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