Slam dunk
The feat was immortalized by Arthur Daley, Pulitzer Prize winning sports writer for The New York Times in an article in March 1936.
He wrote that Joe Fortenberry and his teammate, Willard Schmidt, instead of shooting up for a layup, leaped up and "pitch[ed] the ball downward into the hoop, much like a cafeteria customer dunking a roll in coffee".
Satch Sanders, a career Boston Celtic from 1960 to 1973, said: "in the old days, [defenders] would run under you when you were in the air ... trying to take people out of games so they couldn't play.
"[7] Still, by the 1950s and early 1960s some of the NBA's tallest and strongest centers such as Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain had incorporated the move into their offensive arsenal.
Slightly smaller players at forward and guard then began to dunk, helping to popularize the move, like "Jumping" Johnny Green, Gus Johnson, Elgin Baylor, and Connie Hawkins in the 1960s; and David Thompson and Julius Erving in the 1970s.
[11] Offensive goaltending, also called basket interference, was introduced as a rule in 1956 after Bill Russell had exploited it at San Francisco and Chamberlain was soon to enter college play.
"[19][20] Others have attributed the ban to racial motivations, as at the time most of the prominent dunkers in college basketball were African-American, and the ban took place less than a year after the 1966 NCAA University Division basketball championship game, wherein a Texas Western team with an all-black starting lineup beat an all-white Kentucky team to win the national championship.
[22] In the NBA, in 1976 Arthur Erhat filed a patent for "a rim that had give but immediately returned to its original position," making dunking safe for the first time by significantly reducing the shattering of backboards.
[citation needed] Technology has evolved to adapt to the increased strength and weight of players to withstand the force of such dunks, such as the breakaway rim (introduced to the NBA in 1981) changes to the material used for the backboards, and strengthening of the goal standards themselves.
[24] All-star power forward Gus Johnson of the Baltimore Bullets was the first of the famous backboard breakers in the NBA, shattering three during his career in the 1960s and early 1970s.
The national champion 1982 North Carolina Tar Heels also featured two notable dunkers: James Worthy and Michael Jordan.Larry Nance won the first modern dunk contest in 1984.
Twice in his rookie season (1992–93) during games, center Shaquille O'Neal dunked so hard that he broke the hydraulic support of one goal standard (against the Phoenix Suns) and broke the welds holding up another goal standard, causing the basket to break off and fall to the floor (against the New Jersey Nets), although in neither case did the glass break.
During that same season, New Jersey's Chris Morris shattered a backboard in a game against the Chicago Bulls (the most recent shattered-backboard incident in the NBA to date).
Nelson alley-ooped the basketball as Howard jumped from within the key side of the free throw circle line, caught the ball, and threw it through the rim.
Howard, after going into a 1950s-era telephone booth and again fashioning the Superman attire, caught a pass from Nelson and easily completed a two-handed dunk on the higher goal.
More recently, the Clippers earned the nickname "Lob City" from 2011 onwards, with Chris Paul utilizing alley-oop passes regularly to teammates Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan.
[citation needed] Because of the ball-security provided by the use of both hands, the two-handed tomahawk is a staple of game situations—frequently employed in alley-oops and in offense-rebound put-back dunks.
[39] Amongst players, subtle variations in the direction of the windmill depend on bodily orientation at takeoff and also jumping style (one-foot or two-feet) in relation to dominant hand.
The cuff technique provides better ball security, allowing for a faster windmill motion and increased force exerted on the basket at finish, with either one or both hands.
Using the cuffing method, players are also afforded the opportunity of performing the windmill motion towards the front, a technique exploited by French athlete Kadour Ziani when he pioneered his trademark double-windmill.
Occasionally in the game setting, the windmill is performed via alley-oop but is rarely seen in offense-rebound putback dunks due to the airtime required.
As a demonstration of athletic prowess, the ball may be held in the below-the-waist position for milliseconds longer, thus showcasing the player's hang time (jumping ability).
Additionally, Kenny "Sky" Walker, Tracy McGrady—in the 1989 and 2000 NBA Contests, respectively—and others, have performed 360° variation of the double clutch (McGrady completed a lob self-pass before the dunk).
Ricky Davis has managed to complete the dunk in an NBA game,[43] but both he[44] and Josh Smith[45] have botched at least one in-game attempt as well.
[49] Independent athlete Shane 'Slam' Wise introduced a cuffed-cradle of the ball prior to initiating the under the leg transfer and finishing with two-hands.
Instead of simply dunking the ball with one or two hands, the player allows their forearm(s) to pass through the basket, hooking their elbow pit on the rim before hanging for a short period of time.
In the 2011 NBA contest, Los Angeles Clippers power-forward Blake Griffin completed a self-pass off of the backboard prior to elbow-hanging on the rim.
Dunking is slightly more common during practice sessions, but many coaches advise against it in competitive play because of the risks of injury or failing to score.
Other WNBA dunks have been scored by Michelle Snow (first during an All-Star game), Candace Parker (twice), Sylvia Fowles, Brittney Griner, Jonquel Jones, Elena Delle Donne, Liz Cambage, and Awak Kuier.
[75] In 2004, as a high school senior, Candace Parker was invited to participate in the McDonald's All-American Game and accompanying festivities where she competed in and won the slam dunk contest.
