Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Slam dunk
This is about the basketball term; for the manga, see Slam Dunk (manga); for dipping a biscuit into some form of beverage, see dunk (biscuit)
In basketball, a slam dunk (or sometimes just dunk) is a particular method of scoring points. In a slam dunk, the player, holding the ball in one or both hands, leaps off the floor and jams the ball directly into the basket, and then usually hangs from the hoop for a second or two. The slam dunk is one of the most visually impressive moves in all of basketball.
The term was coined by Chick_Hearn
Due to this visual impressiveness, slam dunks gain wide recognition. Posters of famous players often capture them in the act of dunking, and every year the NBA holds a widely publicized slam dunk contest at the NBA All-Star Game. Most famous are slam dunks that actually shatter the backboard, which occur very infrequently, or dunks that are combined with other tricks, such as an alley-oop.
A slam dunk is often referred to as "jamming"; this was the root of the title of the popular arcade game series NBA Jam.
Outside of basketball, a slam dunk can refer to any notable and highly public success. According to Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward, Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet assured President George W. Bush that the intelligence supporting the contention that Saddam Hussein's Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was "a slam dunk".
List of famous dunkers
- Elgin Baylor
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Julius Erving
- James Worthy
- David Thompson
- Moses Malone
- Michael Jordan
- Charles Barkley
- Larry Nance
- Clyde Drexler
- Kenny Smith
- Kenny Walker
- Dominique Wilkins
- Spud Webb
- Karl Malone
- Shawn Kemp
- Shaquille O'Neal
- David Robinson
- Larry Johnson
- Harold Miner
- Scottie Pippen
- Chris Webber
- Latrell Sprewell
- J.R. Rider
- Brent Barry
- Allen Iverson
- Grant Hill
- Jerry Stackhouse
- Rasheed Wallace
- Kevin Garnett
- Kobe Bryant
- Steve Francis
- Tracy McGrady
- Antoine Walker
- Paul Pierce
- Jason Richardson
- Amare Stoudemire
- Vince Carter
- LeBron James
Female basketball players Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie have also been known to make a slam dunk.
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