duncan228
06-04-2009, 02:40 AM
The Return of 'Chocolate Thunder' (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124407199853883039.html)
Orlando's Dwight Howard Leads the NBA in Dunks -- But Does Rattling the Rim Still Matter?
By Matthew Futterman
Wall Street Journal
The Dunk. It's basketball's signature play -- an airborne triumph of body and spirit that simultaneously thrills fans and taunts opponents. And nobody in the modern NBA is a better dunker than Dwight Howard.
During the past five seasons, Mr. Howard has amassed 1,062 dunks, 248 more than his closest competitor, according to Stats. In the playoffs, which culminate Thursday night with the start of the NBA Finals between the Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers, Mr. Howard already has 51 dunks. Cleveland's LeBron James is next with 29 and the Lakers' top dunker, Pao Gasol, has just 24.
In today's game, where fans and players of every size have fallen in love with the three-point shot and where the best player on the planet, Kobe Bryant, doesn't even crack the top 10 in dunks, no one throws down the basketball with the proficiency of Mr. Howard, who won the league's slam-dunk competition in 2008.
Those exploits have earned Mr. Howard high praise from some of the NBA's most legendary dunkers, such as Darryl Dawkins, who played mainly for the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets during a career that lasted from 1975 to 1989. Mr. Dawkins was known as "Chocolate Thunder" for his backboard-shattering jams that forced the NBA to redesign its rims. He even gave his favorite dunks nicknames, including the "Yo Mama Dunk," the "Heartstopper," the "Turbosexaphonic Delight," the "Flying Chocolate Thunder" and the "Spinechiller Supreme."
Mr. Dawkins said Mr. Howard, known as "Superman," is different from most NBA players today because he strives to make the power slam. "Guys today seem like they want to make a swish or nothing," Mr. Dawkins said.
Flight of Superman
Jerry West may be the model for the NBA's logo, but it's Michael Jordan's straddle-legged silhouette for Nike that most young players strive to emulate. Mr. Howard had his formal coming-out at the 2008 slam dunk competition, emerging with a cape and a Superman jersey for a flying alley-oop jam at All-Star Weekend's most popular event. This year, he donned his cape in a phone booth.
Mr. Howard's emergence is laced with irony, since he plays for a team that finished just 13th in the league in dunks this season. Without him, they would have had the second-lowest total in the NBA.
Mr. Howard's inside power game forces multiple defenders to collapse on him when he receives the ball near the rim, leaving his teammates open on the perimeter, where they specialize in long-range jump shots.
But a review of dunking statistics from the past six seasons shows that dunks aren't a leading indicator of who wins and who loses in the NBA Finals. The 2002-03 New Jersey Nets, 2003-04 Lakers, 2004-05 Detroit Pistons, 2006-07 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2007-08 Lakers all had significant dunking advantages over their opponents in the finals, and they all lost.
The Lakers this season had 428 dunks, fourth-highest in the league, largely because defenders must chase Mr. Bryant on the outside, leaving his teammates open under the basket.
The lone exception is the 2005-06 Miami Heat, led by the nearly unstoppable, 325-pound center Shaquille O'Neal and the acrobatic Dwyane Wade. The Heat, who bested the Dallas Mavericks in the finals, led the NBA in dunks during the season with 499, tied for the highest total since 2002-03. Dunks accounted for 16.4% of the team's points, also tied for the highest in the past six seasons.
But the accomplishments of those one-season wonders are more than overshadowed by the Spurs, the most successful franchise of the past decade.
The Spurs won the title in 2003 despite converting just 322 dunks during the regular season, 10th in the NBA and 167 behind the Lakers' league-leading 489. Two years later, San Antonio won again with just 187 dunks, second-lowest in the league. In 2007, the Spurs won their fourth championship since 1999 with just 128 dunks, last in the NBA.
"You look at the Spurs and how they play with Tim Duncan, it's a very fundamental style," said Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "They didn't dunk a lot, but they got the ring."
Trademarking Skyhook
Those words could also describe Mr. Abdul-Jabbar himself, a 7-foot-2 superstar and now an assistant coach with Lakers. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships in his career but was best known for a skyhook he could hit from virtually anywhere, with his right hand or his left. (Mr. Abdul-Jabaar actually trademarked the phrase "Skyhook" a decade ago and now sells Skyhook-branded clothing on his Web site).
Likewise, many of the NBA's top dunking teams this season long ago began summer vacation. The Denver Nuggets, the league's leading dunkers, made the conference finals, but the Philadelphia 76ers, the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat and the Utah Jazz were all in the top 10 for dunks scored and failed to make or play deep into the playoffs.
Mr. Dawkins remains loyal to his style-conscious era, when a star like Walt Frazier showed up to a game in a fur coat and a lavender suit, and players like Julius Erving, George Gervin, George McGinnis, and David Thompson took pride in the theatrics of attacking the rim.
Still, Mr. Dawkins was unmatched when it came to names. The "Yo Mama Dunk" was one he converted despite having multiple defenders pulling on his arms. The "Heartstopper" happened when he caught the ball with two hands and converted the slam while defenders rose for an attempted rejection. The "Turbosexaphonic Delight" required a mid-air hip-swivel. And of course the backboard-busting "Flying Chocolate Thunder" and the "Spinechiller Supreme" were thrown down left-handed as defenders swarmed his right.
"They'd be so shocked I could come in lefty it would send a chill down their spine," says Mr. Dawkins, who now lives in eastern Pennsylvania.
Sizzling Playoffs
Dunks or no dunks, fans have been returning in droves to the NBA this postseason, which has featured scintillating down-to-the buzzer action seemingly every night for more than a month. Television ratings are up 16% on TNT and 12% on ESPN, even if the most popular play is the low-percentage bomb from beyond the three-point stripe rather than a soaring Michael Jordan jam. "Everyone loves that three-pointer," Mr. Abdul-Jabbar says. "It's childish if you ask me."
To Mr. Dawkins, Mr. Howard's theatrics should be celebrated. Professional basketball with a de-emphasized dunk is like dinner at some homogenized chain restaurant -- it may fill you up, but doesn't register where it counts.
"When we played it was all about style," he says. "You came in a serious suit, played a serious game, and then got in a serious car with a serious girl."
Orlando's Dwight Howard Leads the NBA in Dunks -- But Does Rattling the Rim Still Matter?
By Matthew Futterman
Wall Street Journal
The Dunk. It's basketball's signature play -- an airborne triumph of body and spirit that simultaneously thrills fans and taunts opponents. And nobody in the modern NBA is a better dunker than Dwight Howard.
During the past five seasons, Mr. Howard has amassed 1,062 dunks, 248 more than his closest competitor, according to Stats. In the playoffs, which culminate Thursday night with the start of the NBA Finals between the Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers, Mr. Howard already has 51 dunks. Cleveland's LeBron James is next with 29 and the Lakers' top dunker, Pao Gasol, has just 24.
In today's game, where fans and players of every size have fallen in love with the three-point shot and where the best player on the planet, Kobe Bryant, doesn't even crack the top 10 in dunks, no one throws down the basketball with the proficiency of Mr. Howard, who won the league's slam-dunk competition in 2008.
Those exploits have earned Mr. Howard high praise from some of the NBA's most legendary dunkers, such as Darryl Dawkins, who played mainly for the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets during a career that lasted from 1975 to 1989. Mr. Dawkins was known as "Chocolate Thunder" for his backboard-shattering jams that forced the NBA to redesign its rims. He even gave his favorite dunks nicknames, including the "Yo Mama Dunk," the "Heartstopper," the "Turbosexaphonic Delight," the "Flying Chocolate Thunder" and the "Spinechiller Supreme."
Mr. Dawkins said Mr. Howard, known as "Superman," is different from most NBA players today because he strives to make the power slam. "Guys today seem like they want to make a swish or nothing," Mr. Dawkins said.
Flight of Superman
Jerry West may be the model for the NBA's logo, but it's Michael Jordan's straddle-legged silhouette for Nike that most young players strive to emulate. Mr. Howard had his formal coming-out at the 2008 slam dunk competition, emerging with a cape and a Superman jersey for a flying alley-oop jam at All-Star Weekend's most popular event. This year, he donned his cape in a phone booth.
Mr. Howard's emergence is laced with irony, since he plays for a team that finished just 13th in the league in dunks this season. Without him, they would have had the second-lowest total in the NBA.
Mr. Howard's inside power game forces multiple defenders to collapse on him when he receives the ball near the rim, leaving his teammates open on the perimeter, where they specialize in long-range jump shots.
But a review of dunking statistics from the past six seasons shows that dunks aren't a leading indicator of who wins and who loses in the NBA Finals. The 2002-03 New Jersey Nets, 2003-04 Lakers, 2004-05 Detroit Pistons, 2006-07 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2007-08 Lakers all had significant dunking advantages over their opponents in the finals, and they all lost.
The Lakers this season had 428 dunks, fourth-highest in the league, largely because defenders must chase Mr. Bryant on the outside, leaving his teammates open under the basket.
The lone exception is the 2005-06 Miami Heat, led by the nearly unstoppable, 325-pound center Shaquille O'Neal and the acrobatic Dwyane Wade. The Heat, who bested the Dallas Mavericks in the finals, led the NBA in dunks during the season with 499, tied for the highest total since 2002-03. Dunks accounted for 16.4% of the team's points, also tied for the highest in the past six seasons.
But the accomplishments of those one-season wonders are more than overshadowed by the Spurs, the most successful franchise of the past decade.
The Spurs won the title in 2003 despite converting just 322 dunks during the regular season, 10th in the NBA and 167 behind the Lakers' league-leading 489. Two years later, San Antonio won again with just 187 dunks, second-lowest in the league. In 2007, the Spurs won their fourth championship since 1999 with just 128 dunks, last in the NBA.
"You look at the Spurs and how they play with Tim Duncan, it's a very fundamental style," said Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "They didn't dunk a lot, but they got the ring."
Trademarking Skyhook
Those words could also describe Mr. Abdul-Jabbar himself, a 7-foot-2 superstar and now an assistant coach with Lakers. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships in his career but was best known for a skyhook he could hit from virtually anywhere, with his right hand or his left. (Mr. Abdul-Jabaar actually trademarked the phrase "Skyhook" a decade ago and now sells Skyhook-branded clothing on his Web site).
Likewise, many of the NBA's top dunking teams this season long ago began summer vacation. The Denver Nuggets, the league's leading dunkers, made the conference finals, but the Philadelphia 76ers, the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat and the Utah Jazz were all in the top 10 for dunks scored and failed to make or play deep into the playoffs.
Mr. Dawkins remains loyal to his style-conscious era, when a star like Walt Frazier showed up to a game in a fur coat and a lavender suit, and players like Julius Erving, George Gervin, George McGinnis, and David Thompson took pride in the theatrics of attacking the rim.
Still, Mr. Dawkins was unmatched when it came to names. The "Yo Mama Dunk" was one he converted despite having multiple defenders pulling on his arms. The "Heartstopper" happened when he caught the ball with two hands and converted the slam while defenders rose for an attempted rejection. The "Turbosexaphonic Delight" required a mid-air hip-swivel. And of course the backboard-busting "Flying Chocolate Thunder" and the "Spinechiller Supreme" were thrown down left-handed as defenders swarmed his right.
"They'd be so shocked I could come in lefty it would send a chill down their spine," says Mr. Dawkins, who now lives in eastern Pennsylvania.
Sizzling Playoffs
Dunks or no dunks, fans have been returning in droves to the NBA this postseason, which has featured scintillating down-to-the buzzer action seemingly every night for more than a month. Television ratings are up 16% on TNT and 12% on ESPN, even if the most popular play is the low-percentage bomb from beyond the three-point stripe rather than a soaring Michael Jordan jam. "Everyone loves that three-pointer," Mr. Abdul-Jabbar says. "It's childish if you ask me."
To Mr. Dawkins, Mr. Howard's theatrics should be celebrated. Professional basketball with a de-emphasized dunk is like dinner at some homogenized chain restaurant -- it may fill you up, but doesn't register where it counts.
"When we played it was all about style," he says. "You came in a serious suit, played a serious game, and then got in a serious car with a serious girl."