Editor’s Note: New Stacheketball contributor, jamjam365 brings you the set of thoughts that came to him as he awaited the NBA Slam Dunk Contest last night — a Renaissance of dunks.
Yes, it’s a pleasure to be able to write about the most sacred day on the NBA calendar. THE DUNK CONTEST.
It’s the one day of the year EVERY local news station will carry a basketball story about someone not from their city. The winner of the slam dunk competition is a nationwide story!
And since the artistry of the dunk is nondisputed, here is an art history lesson for my readers.
- The Van Gogh method: Dwight Howard. Traditional, predictable, yet you never get tired of seeing those “golden rows of wheat” (regulation NBA basketball) slammed down with the force of a jackhammer..
- The Monet: Like light upon the water, dispersed by a flock of geese or some other random retro reference; Dr. J. still the only one in the contest to legitimately leave from the free throw line… and what’s more it seems effortless.
- The Picasso of the Dunk: Nate Robinson. A little disjointed, knees and elbows, everything a little out of place but so amazing you have to stand in line to see.
- Michaelangelo: Yeah, I’m probably the 1000th writer to use it. So what? He was a master, MJ, at not just the takeoff, the landing, the execution, but also the end result. And every dunk the last 10 years that is a derivative of his has failed. That’s how you know he was a master.
- Toulouse-Latrec: short of stature, didn’t look like a dunker (or a painter). But Spud Webb elevated his game and his image with the first TOTAL UPSET of the early dunk contest. First person to really make his mark with the contest.
Well, that wraps it up for now. This is your contributor jamjam365, bringing you the Renaissance, NBA style.