History of the San Antonio Spurs in the dunk contest
By Andrew Ites
The San Antonio Spurs don’t have a long history of competing in the dunk contest, but there have been some memorable moments.
The San Antonio Spurs have never really been known as a team full of explosive athletes that excel above the rim during the illustrious history of their franchise.
Their championship teams were built around defense, fundamentals, and even some pace-and-space play in their most recent title run.
However, they have had a few high-fliers compete in the dunk contest over the years.
Edgar Jones represented the Spurs in the NBA’s first dunk contest in 1984. The ’84 contest was highlighted by an iconic dunk from champion Larry Nance, and an epic showdown between Nance, Dominique Wilkins, and Julius Erving.
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Johnny Dawkins became the next Spur to participate in the dunk contest in 1987.
The 6-foot, 2-inch, 165-pound rookie didn’t stand a chance against Michael Jordan who took home the title.
Cadillac Anderson represented San Antonio in the 1988 dunk contest, which was also won by Michael Jordan.
The most memorable dunk contest for San Antonio fans didn’t have any Spurs in it at all, but it did occur at the Alamo Dome in 1996.
’96 was the first and only year that San Antonio has hosted All-Star Weekend, and future Spurs player and vice president of basketball operations Brent Barry put on a show and took home the dunk contest title.
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Barry was in his rookie year with the Clippers when he won the dunk contest in San Antonio, and he would return to the city as a player in 2004 to play for the Spurs for four seasons.
Barry is currently in his first year with the Spurs’ front office where his basketball IQ is a bit more important than his athletic ability.
Hopefully we will see a San Antonio Spur hold up the Slam Dunk trophy for the first time in the near future.