History of the Slam Dunk

[IupiterJam]

with a combination of style, grace, and afro.



[danbama117]

why theres chinese subtitles in the video?

[44lambert]

type "short guy dunks" in the youtube search box to see a 5'5 guy dunking a 10ft hoop

[jsj85]

the players seem taller bach then, do you see how they hold the ball with one hand, looks like their holding a baseball

[Sovnarkom]

@jsj85 It's not really "the players" "back then". There are just a few players who could palm the ball in the history of the NBA and 2 of them are featured in this video - Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins and Julius "The Doctor" Erving. Julius was only 6'7" (1 inch taller then Michael Jordan) and Connie was only 6'8" (same height as Scottie Pippen or LeBron James) but they both had extraordinarily large hands that allowed them to hold the ball with 1 hand and wave it around like a grapefruit.

[Sovnarkom]

@jsj85 forgot to mention - Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain is also in this video and he could also palm the ball .... guys like this could get any 2 finger tips on the ball and ensure a rebound. Wilt's ability to palm the ball is less impressive though since he's over 7ft. tall.

[WillieG1990]

@ginoongkamote Ahh the slam dunk. Without a doubt the most spectacular play in all of sports!!! Excellent video btw

[TheJuicer83]

The rims looked higher back then for some reason

[garioldwin]

Gus Johnson from 60's was far more spectacular dunker then Elgin Baylor . Baylor is mentioned just beouse he was one of the best . Gus was an average all time player.

[amd77j]

@garioldwin Great point. You know your NBA.;-)

[jazzworld1943]

Dan Issel had to duck to keep from breakin the rim with his forehead at 1:45

[WuTangKlanz]

damn Bill Russell got yammed on a couple times

[roddickandgasquet1]

Listen, Doctor j made the slam dunk come to life, and the first person to dunk from the foul line!

[Vstrat0]

@roddickandgasquet1 No man.

They changed the free throw rule because Chamberlain would take one step from behind the free throw line & dunk. Yes it is true - one step!!

After that the rule is only your arms can break the plane of the free throw line.

They also changed the D 3 second rule, the inbound pass rule, AND widened the lane trying to stop him from crushing the entire league. He was so dominating the league tried to stop him and failed!!

He is STILL the most athletic player ever - by far

[upabittoolate]

@Vstrat0 That's an affirmative. But, defensive 3 seconds is recent. It's arguable that it's Mutuombo's. Offensive 3 seconds is definitely a Wilt's rule though. Most athletic? I'm not sure. There's 5'6" guys that can dunk. There's 6'7" guys that can bound down the court in 6 or 7 steps. There's guys with body control such that they hang for what seems like longer than a second. There's guys with crazy lateral movement.

Wilt is the father to it. But he ain't the most athletic. same for Doc.

[Vstrat0]

@upabittoolate No. See the NBA website:

"1966-67

• The following language was added to the Zone Defense Rule: "After the offensive team has advanced the ball to its front court, a defensive player may not station himself in the key area longer than three seconds if it is apparent he is making no effort to play an opponent. The three second count starts when the offensive team is in clear control in the front court."

As far as I know nobody else has ever dunked from standing at the FT line.

[upabittoolate]

@Vstrat0 That's not the same as defensive 3 seconds, as it's enforced now, my friend.

[Vstrat0]

@upabittoolate it is somewhat different, today the zone is legal, and there's a T for 3 second violation. But there was definitely D3 whistles blown in those days, and it was because of Chamberlain as he moved into stage 2 of his career - all round excellence......... leading the league in assists, running 7, 8 , 10 games in a row with triple doubles ( many of which would have been quadruples if the NBA had counted blocked shots) and demolishing entire teams with an awesome presence on defense

[fbravis]

@Vstrat0 michael jordan did :)

[Vstrat0]

@fbravis nah. MJ started back behind the midcourt line. Wilt was standing inside the circle. Huge difference

[327372]

@Vstrat0 actually he was soo dominant back then because most of the league was composed of averge sized white players.

[atillathehun101]

Agree with Tuzwol. The first creative dunker was Connie Hawkins. The Doc took it to a slightly higher level but the Hawk is the true godfather of the dunk. Baylor had hang time but wasnt into the creative aspect of the skill.

[DuckwalkSupreme]

Who the hell was that white guy at about 1:45 or so?

[Chaco1961]

Probably Dan Issel. He wore #44 for the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA before playing for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA.

[DuckwalkSupreme]

OK, thanks a bunch. Every now and then, I need someone to supplement my basketball knowledge, today this was you sir, thank you.

[prodiggy13]

@DuckwalkSupreme

Looks like Jerry West

[tuzwol]

Connie started the flashy dunks,the jam aint reach no new level of creativity

[tuzwol]

Yeah I heard something about the flagrant fouls,in that era those guys were tougher,if you thought you were going to dunk on them there would be some consequences to pay. Cause after Connie Hawkins dunked on WIlt,Wilt knocked him on his ass the next time he went up

[tuzwol]

Connie Hawkins in the ABL and ABA was what Jordan was in the NBA in his prime.

Connie Hawkins in the NBA is what Jordan was when he played for the Wizards.Both from Brooklyn and both had jumpshots

[tuzwol]

WHen Connie joined the NBA he was a 27 year old rookie,he was an old 27 year old with bad knees.He wasnt the same,whereas Dr.J's knees held up.Connie had knee surgery on his knee,Dr.J didnt have knee surgery,therefore his knee problems werent as serious as Connie's

[tuzwol]

Connie Hawkins was dunking when Dr.J was 3 and before Mike was born,too bad there aint that much footage of The Hawk,because in his prime no highflyer could match him

[jaystarstar]

There is amazingly little video of Julius Erving from the ABA.

People who think the Doctor was awesome in the NBA -- well, he was, but that was also after he had a lot of mileage on his knees.

Dr. J in the NBA = Jordan after his 'retirement'

Dr. J in the ABA = Jordan 1984-1994, except no Pistons Bad Boys slamming him to the hoop every time down the floor.

[tuzwol]

There's a good amount of footage of Dr.J in the ABA,there is way more than a little.I saw him in the ABA and NBA his athleticism was the same.There was no change,look at him from his 1976 season in the NBA,then look at him in 1972 in the ABA he moved exactly the same,he was still getting up just as high and still running well.People have always exaggerated about his knees

[tuzwol]

They televised Dr.J's aba games on tv

[jaystarstar]

i don't know what everyone is crying about Connie Hawkins getting no credit -- they did have about 30 seconds of footage on him.

One problem with the Hawk is that very few ABA games were on TV and of those, not much film has been preserved.

It's not like today where every game is televised from buzzer to buzzer by 10 camera angles.

[tuzwol]

Aint nobody crying about Connie not getting credit.They speak of Connie then say the jam reached a new level with the ABA.They dont mention that Connie was in the ABA dunking as well.According to this they make it sound like he wasnt in the ABA.They mention the ABA without mentioning Connie.U know the footage is scarce but there is footage of him in the ABA dunking on people

[tuzwol]

They should've mentioned him while talking about the ABA,and they should've showed some dunks while he was in the ABA.He was the first star of the ABA,all I'm saying is mention with the other ABA players thats all

[tuzwol]

can you comprehend I never said he didnt get credit,I said they skip over his aba career and they fail to mention that he was dunking in the ABA

[Christmas800]

they always show the weakest dunks in these videos.

[lagosdre]

YES pollard could dunk from the line(but nowdays the line is 18Foot)And that time it was 6 foot and later 12 foot)...

They changed from 6f to 12f thanks to MIKAN who dominated the game(the only way to beat him was keeping the ball till the game ended)(there was no 24 second rule) only 2 players finished games with more than 20 points(He finished games with more than 30) sometimes he outscored the opponent teams...

Later WILT came and that you problably now(they changed to 18f)...

[ddenuci]

lago: The free throw line is 15 ft from the backboard and 13 ft from the front of the rim.  I don't think this has changed since the beginning of the NBA. The distance that you are referring to is the width of the lane, which has nothing to do with dunking from the free throw line.

[tuzwol]

Its 15ft from the rim,the rim doesnt stick out 2ft from the backboard.lol.

[ddenuci]

Wrong. Let me try again. The horizontal distance from the front of the rim to the free throw line is 13 ft. The rim itself has a diameter of 18 in, or 1.5 ft. The distance from the rear of the rim to the backboard is another 6 in, or 0.5 ft. Therefore the distance from the free throw line to the backboard is 13 ft + 1.5 ft + 0.5 ft = 15 ft.

[ddenuci]

lago: What is the 18ft that you are referring to in your last sentence? It is neither the distance from the free throw line to the backboard nor the width of the lane.

[tuzwol]

The jam ain't reach no new level of creativity,Connie Hawkins was in the ABA at it's first 2 years doing reverse dunks and all of those creative dunks, back in the first year and 2nd year of the ABA,they make it sound like the ABA came after The Hawk,and that he was never in it,they think they slick,they always skip over that man's influence and creativity.Fly Hawk Fly

[ddenuci]

Is that Dan Issel dunking at 1:47?

[ddenuci]

One of the great ABA dunkers left off the video is the Pacer's Darnell Hillman, aka Dr. Dunk.

[Vstrat0]

@ddenuci man I have not thought about Doctor Dunk in freaking YEARS man!!!

He WAS on the Pacers... he also played with Dan Issel Bobby Jones and David Thompson a year or two with the Nuggets as I remember that would have been 78 they were playoffs team but wasn't that Walton's year to win a ring?

[ParSpartanSoccer]

@Vstrat0 I didn't know it till I just looked it up, but yes Hillman played briefly with the Nuggets for one season.  In the middle of the 1977-78 season, he was traded from the Nets to the Nuggets, and played 33 games for them. The Nuggets won their division, and lost to the Sonics in the WC Finals. That year, the Bullets (not the Blazers) won the championship. Hillman finished his career playing with a couple of more teams, but everyone - I think - will always think of him as a Pacer.

[ddenuci]

There was a 6'5" forward who played with Mikan's Lakers named Jim Pollard. Pollard was one of the only players of that era who could dunk in a game. I've read, but don't believe, that he could dunk from the free throw line.

[tonetimetable]

I've read somewhere that NBA players could always dunk, but they risked being knocked sideways if they did; the dunk back then was seen as the ultimate sign of disrespect and was matched with a flagrant foul. At that time you had to be a big center to get away with it.

[tuzwol]

All of them couldnt get up high enough,and alot of them couldnt palm a basketball.Dunking was more of a street thing,those street ballers dunked mostly,thats what Connie Hawkins brought tot he NBA,he would've brought it sooner had he been allowed to,but he dunked on some centers while ini the nba,too bad they dont show

[tuzwol]

great footage by the way

[tuzwol]

Connie Hawkins was the first doing fancy dunks,he was the first star of the ABA,too bad they don't show footage of him in the ABA back in 67/68 season and the 68/69 season,the Hawk dominated the ABA,too bad the real history isn't told.