He was one of the shortest players to ever play in the NBA and over his 12-year career. Anthony "Spud" Webb was always appreciate of the chance to play with the 'big boys,' considering many believed he was a longshot, at best, to make an NBA roster.
After he was drafted by Detroit in the fourth round of the 1984 draft, the Hawks soon obtained his services, and Webb was known as a pioneer for other diminutive players who came after him (among them Earl Boykins and Muggsy Bogues). While you might think the 55-year-old would still get a run in these days, you might be surprised at his answer. He never plays basketball these days. For the past nine years, Webb has been president of the Mavericks' G-League team, the Texas Legends, and as he puts it, "trying to keep guys dreams alive to reach the NBA."
“I strictly play golf. I leave it to the young guys these days," he said. "I get in the cart, swing, get in the cart and do it all over again."
While many remember him from winning the 1986 Slam Dunk championship, Webb understood the odds were against him early in his career and it was important to do whatever it took to stick on the Hawks roster.
"It wasn't like guys today, I was trying to establish myself and stay on the team, and stay in Mike Fratello's rotation," Webb commented. "I was more concerned with staying on the team."
Going up against your teammate in the 1986 competition against Dominique (Wilkins), it was a big deal, right? - "Yes, back then you wanted to be in the contest. You wanted to be in it, and it was on a high level and people were looking forward to it."
When asked if Dominique provide any pointers, Webb joked, "No...he was in it to win it...that was his competitive nature. I don't think Dominique ever saw me dunk (or work on dunks before), because I thought he was greatest dunker I'd ever seen...in-game and out of game. I was lucky to be in the contest."
Did you practice your dunks leading up to that contest? "I didn't find out until a week before when (then Hawks president) Stan Kasten asked me to be in it, and I had to do the Johnny Carson show the night before the contest. We still had games to play during that time, and I was hurt leading up to the contest, so I never got a chance to really practice them. I didn't have anything written down, I was hoping it would hurry up and end because I was running out of dunks and I knew Dominique still had a lot more in his repetitore."
How did your family and friends react to you winning the Slam Dunk? "If you lose or do something bad, that's all they remember," he chuckled. "Now that I live here, it seems like 100,000 people were there even though the building held about 19,000 at the time. It was good that I won, because it was my hometown."
Webb said he never watches the event these days, it's nothing he plans his day around, but if the highlights are on, he'll watch. "Enjoy the moment, it's kind of special to be in the contest and to be in that fraternity if you win.
What would he recommend to Hawks forward John Collins, who will represent the franchise on Saturday? "He probably knows he will need some special dunks to win."