The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Webb knows winning a dunk contest can be a life changer
Spud Webb remembers getting on the bus after winning the NBA slam dunk contest 35 years ago and getting a quick piece of advice from his Atlanta teammate at the time, Doc Rivers.
The message: Your life just changed forever.
“He wasn’t joking,” Webb said. “Everywhere I go, even today, people are talking about it.”
That’s what happens when a 5-foot-7 guy — a height that was perhaps generously listed — captures imaginations by winning the dunk contest, which was just in its third year then. Webb returns to the dunk contest on Sunday in Atlanta as one of the judges, when first-time competitors Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers, Cassius Stanley of the Indiana Pacers and Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks compete for the title.
They are not big NBA names, yet.
By Sunday night, that might change.
“Hopefully, these guys put on a show for everybody and leave them talking,” Webb said. “I guess that’s really what it’s all about. If people don’t believe in you, then you can go out and prove that you are one of the best dunkers in the NBA.”
He knows a little something about that.
Webb, 57, won his title in Dallas, his hometown, in 1986 — and had to beat Hawks teammate Dominique Wilkins to get that trophy. Even now, Webb sees his win as the ultimate underdog moment since he still insists that Wilkins is the best dunker of all-time.
“There were only 20,000 people in Reunion Arena,” Webb said. “I’ve had 100,000 people in Dallas tell me they were there.”
That will be a tough claim for someone to make this year. The dunk contest will take place at halftime of the All-Star Game, and because of the pandemic only about 1,500 guests — mostly frontline and vaccinated health-care workers — will be invited to watch
the game and the skills events.
It’ll be a two-round event. The three competitors will perform two dunks each in the first round, and then the two with the highest combined score from those will get one dunk each to decide the champion. Those final dunks won’t get a score; the winner will be determined by “Judges’ Choice” — a twist where the judges
raise a card that has the dunker’s name on it.
“I was going to try and do stuff that hasn’t been done yet in the dunk contest,” said Toppin, who led major college basketball with 107 dunks last season at Dayton. “But I’ve seen a lot of great dunks, so I might have to bring out one of the old dunks that someone did.”
Webb — part of a fivejudge panel this year, all of
them former dunk champions — isn’t opposed to that approach. He’ll be joined by Wilkins, Dee Brown, Jason Richardson and Josh Smith to choose this year’s winner.
“I think even if they repeat a dunk, it depends on the artistic and creative parts of it,” Webb said. “I like the power dunks. I’m just excited to see what these guys are going to do.”
Dear Abby: This is a delicate situation. Four days after my boyfriend (whom I had been seeing for 8 1/2 years) was killed in an accident, I found out he was married. He had claimed for years that he was divorced and even produced a copy of his divorce decree several years ago. It is a long story. He has been dead for five months now, and I need something back from his wife that he borrowed from me: my father’s Mason ring.
I was devastated when I learned he was married and had lied to me all those years, but I have no intention of telling his wife or causing her pain. (I don’t think she knows about me.) I would like the ring back because my father passed away many years ago, and I want to pass it on to my daughter, who never knew her grandfather. He died before she was born. My boyfriend’s sister (who lives with his wife) knows about me. She told me she won’t tell her sisterin-law, and I should leave her alone. I’m not trying to hurt anyone because I wouldn’t want anyone to do this to me if I was in her place, but I am lost about how to approach this. Twisted Situation Down
South
Dear Twisted Situation: I assume you have explained the situation to the wife’s sister-in-law. Contact her once more and tell her you want the ring and need her help to get it back without starting WWIII. However, if she’s still uncooperative, you may need a lawyer to write the grieving widow a registered letter explaining the entire situation and asking that the ring be returned. (I’m hoping there are identifying initials engraved inside that do not match her husband’s.) Dear Abby: I am 9 years old, and I have a twin brother. Sometimes he’s nice to me and other times he’s annoying. When he’s annoying, sometimes he doesn’t stop. Everywhere I go — our car, the kitchen, table, everywhere — I hear him babbling about nonsense. Even in my happy place (my bedroom). I wish I could lock my bedroom door, but my parents keep telling me not to lock ANY of the doors (except the car) in the house. Could you tell me what to do, please? I’d really like to stop being annoyed for once in my life.
Bothered Twin in Austin,
Texas
Dear Twin: Is your brother TRYING to be annoying, or is he just ... annoying? If it’s the former, talk to your parents about it because he may need to be put on notice. If it’s the latter, then YOU should talk to him. Explain that sometimes you don’t feel like talking or playing and you need to be left alone. Agree on a signal — like hanging a sock (or some other item) on the outside bedroom door knob so he’ll know. And when you do, make sure you let him know you’ll do the same for him when the situations are reversed, because they will be.
Dear Abby: Easter is a day to be thankful for Christ that our sins are forgiven. Opinionated atheists at the dinner table distract from the meaning of the celebration.
Is it wrong on Easter Sunday to exclude relatives who no longer practice the Christian faith?
Saved in Minnesota
Dear Saved: Before making up your mind, ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”
Write to Dear Abby at P.O. Box 96440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 or dearabby. com