By: HISTORY.com Editors

1986

Spud Webb, 5’7″, wins NBA dunk contest

Published: November 16, 2009Last Updated: May 27, 2025

On February 8, 1986, Spud Webb, who at 5’7” was one of the shortest players in the history of professional basketball, wins the NBA slam dunk contest, beating his Atlanta Hawks teammate and 1985 dunk champ, the 6’8” Dominique Wilkins.

Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb was born July 13, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Throughout his life, Webb had to prove himself as a basketball player due to his relatively small stature. As a high school player, he averaged 26 points per game and was one of 10 students out of 5,000 selected to the All-State team; however, his size prevented him from being recruited for Division 1-A colleges. Instead, he attended Midland Junior College in Texas, where he led his team to victory in the 1982 junior college championship. He then caught the attention of the coaches at North Carolina State University, where he went on to play for two years.

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Despite a strong college career, his size initially kept him from making the NBA and after graduation he played in the U.S. Basketball League. In 1985, he had a successful tryout with the Atlanta Hawks and joined the team. Webb played six seasons with the Hawks, followed by stints with the Sacramento Kings, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic.

One of the most memorable events of Webb’s career was his dunk contest win, which took place on February 8, 1986, at the NBA All-Star Game Weekend in Dallas. Webb, the shortest player to ever participate in the competition to that time, went up against men who were, in some cases, a foot taller. In the end, size didn’t matter. Webb dazzled the crowd with his soaring dunks and bested teammate Dominique Wilkins, who had won the 1985 contest by beating Michael Jordan. (The NBA’s first slam dunk competition was held in 1984.)

Webb retired from basketball in 1998, after 12 seasons in the NBA. He was said to have paved the way for other height-challenged NBA players, including 5’5” Earl Boykins and 5’3” Muggsy Bogues.

Timeline

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Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on February 8th

1587

Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded

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1725

Peter the Great dies

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1862

The Union captures Roanoke Island

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1887

Dawes Severalty Act approved, ending tribal control of land

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1904

The Russo-Japanese War begins

Following the Russian rejection of a Japanese plan to divide Manchuria and Korea into spheres of influence, Japan launches a surprise naval attack against Port Arthur, a Russian naval base in China. The Russian fleet was decimated. During the subsequent Russo-Japanese War, Japan won a series of decisive victories over the Russians, who underestimated the […]

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1915

“The Birth of A Nation” opens in L.A., glorifying the KKK

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1924

First execution by lethal gas

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1936

Jay Berwanger picked No. 1 in first NFL draft

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1943

Americans secure Guadalcanal

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1949

Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary sentenced

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1960

Construction begins on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

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1968

Three protesters die in the Orangeburg Massacre

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1978

New England digs out after blizzard

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1983

Irish race horse stolen

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1990

Del Shannon, a ’60s songwriter, dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound

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1994

Jack Nicholson smashes windshield in episode of road rage

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