Originally published in SLAM 105
The email hit my inbox two days after the fact, and between that delay and the somewhat cryptic nature of the text—“Is it already over for November?”—I might have been excused for not knowing what, exactly, dude was talking about. But there would be no need for excuses, because the subject line erased all ambiguity: “Slam of Da Month.”
Ah, that. Or, more correctly, this. Up there. Way up there. For the record, no, it wasn’t over. Not in the first week of the new season, and not with all kinds of illness still to come.
What about Smush Parker exposing Ben Wallace as the defensive fraud he is? (A joke, but still…) Or Kwame Brown climbing Andres Nocioni like a flight of steps? Or Ronnie Price actually defecating all over Carlos Boozer’s head? Perhaps, if we’d found a suitable photo of any of the above, it really wouldn’t have been over so soon. Only we didn’t—but I won’t use that as an excuse.
No, I’ll go with LeBron, who I first saw dunk as a high school sophomore, and who I’ve seen dunk quite a few times since. He’s been here before, he’ll be here again. And since this one came on the head of arguably the best post defender of his era…like I said, no need for excuses. Besides, this is my last one, so if you know me, you know I had no choice.
Mav, I’m assuming this answers your question. I’ll be in touch.
