brent barry won the dunk contest in 1996.
when did brent barry won the dunk contest?
1996
brent barry was selected by the denver nuggets in the first round (15th pick) of the 1995 nba draft, but was traded to the los angeles clippers on draft night in a 4-player trade with rodney rogers for the no. 2 overall pick in the draft (antonio mcdyess) and randy woods. barry was generally considered a good passer and had three seasons where he averaged more than 5 assists per game. barry was also a strong three-point shooter; he currently ranks 13th all-time in career three-point field goals made and shot 40% from behind the arc for his career. these two strengths, combined with barry's 6'7" frame, allowed him to play a variety of positions, including point guard, shooting guard, and small forward; because he was taller than most traditional point guards, he was often considered a point forward when he was running the offense. he was on the san antonio spurs championship teams in 2005 and 2007. he won the slam dunk contest in the nba all-star weekend in 1996 with a julius erving-inspired slam dunk in which he took off from the free throw line to sail in and dunk one-handed. he was the first caucasian player to win the competition.
brent barry
in 1990, dominique wilkins of the atlanta hawks edged out kenny smith of the sacramento kings to win his second slam dunk contest (first won in 1985 over michael jordan). kenny smith scored high points for originality with his signature dunk – he started by turning his back to the basket, bouncing the ball backward between his legs and off the backboard, then turning and grabbing it in the air and reverse dunking it. after 1990, interest in the slam dunk contest began to wane and lasted throughout the 1990s. initially, it was because many players lost interest in competing; some cited concerns of injuries, while others felt that the full repertoire of humanly possible dunks had already been exhausted. with most of the superstars – jordan, wilkins, drexler, etc. – choosing not to participate, lesser-known players began to compete, leading to either watered-down competitions or surprises. fans complained that players were beginning to win contests with boring or unoriginal dunks (witness the relatively forgettable early-'90s wins by the likes of cedric ceballos and brent barry). harold miner was a standout in 1993, winning the contest with a reverse power dunk, reaching between his legs and down to his feet in mid-air before sending the ball down. in 1994 and 1997 respectively, isaiah rider and kobe bryant won the contest. rider would win with a spectacular, between-the-legs dunk, reminiscent of the orlando woolridge effort in the 1984 contest, but wasn't able to repeat in 1995, missing the same dunk on several tries, opening the way for miner to grab his second slam dunk title in three years. in 1998, the slam dunk contest was replaced with the wnba-nba 2ball contest. in 1999, there was no all-star game due to the nba lockout.
slam dunk contest