Phi Slama Jama

Coined by former Houston Post sportswriter Thomas Bonk,[1] the nickname was quickly adopted by the players and even appeared on team warmup suits by the middle of the 1982–83 season.

The Cougars posted an Associated Press #1 ranking, a 31–2 record and a 26-game winning streak before losing in the national championship game of the 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

The departures of Olajuwon and Young after the 1984 NCAA Final, in addition to the loss of Drexler and Larry Micheaux the previous year, brought the Phi Slama Jama era at Houston to a close.

[19] Though it was pioneered largely in the ABA, Phi Slama Jama is widely credited with popularizing the athletic "above the rim" style of play that pervades college basketball to the present day.

[20] The legacy of Phi Slama Jama has remained at the fore of basketball discourse thanks in large part to the long and distinguished professional careers of Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

The #1 vs. #2 clash of titans between Phi Slama Jama and Louisville's "Doctors of Dunk" in the Final Four served as an enthralling preamble to the dramatic title game.

[5] Phi Slama Jama's title game loss to North Carolina State is widely considered their most immediate contribution towards putting NCAA basketball on a par with college football in terms of television viewership and revenue.

The Cougars' last-second loss in the final was an iconic moment in the history of "March Madness" that helped to establish the NCAA basketball tournament as a major television event.

Directed by Chip Rives, the film premiered on October 18, 2016, and featured several former members of the Houston basketball team from the Phi Slama Jama era.

Media members who participated included original Phi Slama Jama coiner Thomas Bonk, Curry Kirkpatrick, and Brent Musburger.

While exploring that larger narrative, Rives also focuses on the disappearance of enigmatic role player Benny Anders and the lasting brotherhood that compels teammates and 1981–82 co-captains Eric Davis and Lynden Rose to try and find him after more than two decades of mystery.