So, Howard Meant to Not Actually Dunk the Ball?

By Bethlehem Shoals
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I came away from All-Star Weekend with two gripping question: What was the deeper meaning of Gerald Green’s shoeless dunk, and why didn’t Dwight Howard actually dunk on his Superman routine? We’ll probably never know the answer to the first one, but Matt Watson asked Big Dwight about the most famous semi-dunk in history:
Watson: “I’ve got to ask, you didn’t actually touch the rim on that dunk. Did you think you would have to do it again?”
Dwight: “See, the thing is, for people who never dunked before, you don’t have to touch the rim to dunk the ball. People were saying that it wasn’t a dunk because I didn’t touch the rim – you know, a lot of dunks I do during the season I don’t ever touch the rim, it’s just the fact that I put it in. And I wanted it to have the effect that it’s impossible what I did, so that’s why I threw it in like that.”
Watson also points out that Howard would’ve risked serious injury if he’d actually hit the rim. That’s how hard, how forceful, his “throw” was. The whole “I wanted it to look impossible” makes sense, too; it shows how much thought he put into his dunks, right down to realizing that making it look too easy wouldn’t have had the same drama. Love or hate Bill Walton, his “throw it down, big man” does make you appreciate just how epic a dunk really is.
Plus, at some point, we have to give Howard the benefit of the doubt. I really have no idea what it’s like to be a gigantic man, at that angle, that high up in the air. I hope he would grant me the same courtesy, when they make a reality show about my high anxiety level and Larry David-like neuroses.
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