Spud Webb

Anthony Jerome Webb, better known as Spud Webb (born July 13, 1963 in Dallas, Texas), is a retired American NBA basketball point guard.

Career
Standing at 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall, after graduating from high school he was not recruited by most colleges mainly due to his size.

Finally he attended Midland Junior College (in Midland, Texas) where he led his team to the junior college national title in 1982.

Webb attracted the attention of Tom Abatemarco, an assistant coach at North Carolina State University, who arranged for Webb to meet head coach Jim Valvano, who offered Webb a scholarship. In two years at N.C. State, Spud averaged 10.4 points and 5.7 assists per game.

He was then drafted in the 4th round of the 1985 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. His first six seasons were played with the Atlanta Hawks, but he had his best years statistically with the Sacramento Kings, where he played as a starter from 1992-1995. He then split a season between the Atlanta Hawks and the Minnesota Timberwolves before finishing his career after one season with the Orlando Magic and retiring from basketball in 1998. He averaged 9.9 points per game in 12 seasons.

Webb was the third shortest player to play in the NBA. Only Earl Boykins and Muggsy Bogues were shorter.


Before the NBA
Spud Webb was born July 13, 1963 into poverty in Texas. He was raised in a small three bedroom home and used basketball as an inspiration. He was never tall, but he used his quickness and jumping ability to outplay the other kids. In high school, he was cut from his varsity basketball team because of his height. He was forced to play on the Junior Varsity team where he made a large impact. When he got on the Varsity team, he averaged 26 points per game. He was one of the best players in the state of Texas. After high school, he attended Midland and North Carolina State University, where his height was still viewed as a problem. Once again, he proved his critics wrong by averaging 10 points per game throughout college.


Slam Dunk Contest
Webb, the shortest person to compete in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, won the event in 1986. His participation surprised teammate and defending dunk champion Dominique Wilkins, who had "never seen me dunk before," Webb said. His dunks included the elevator two-handed double pump dunk, the one-handed off the backboard one-handed jam, a 360-degree helicopter one-handed dunk, a 180-degree reverse double-pump slam, and finally, the 180-degree reverse two-handed strawberry jam from a lob bounce off the floor. He beat Wilkins with two perfect 150-point scores in the final round. Atlanta coach Mike Fratello said, "Spud kind of duped him. He told Nique he never had anything prepared, didn't practice for it. So, Nique maybe thought his normal assortment would be good enough to get through" (The Spud Webb Story). Twenty years after Webb's victory in the Slam Dunk contest, he helped New York Knicks point guard Nate Robinson (who stands at 5 feet 9 inches tall) win the event. Webb tossed the ball to Robinson, who leaped over Webb and dunked, earning 50 points from the judges. Robinson went on to win, making him the second player in basketball history under six feet to win since Webb.