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Today in Sports History: January 27th

Tomchambersdunk1_medium

(Chambers skies over Mark Jackson. Screencap courtesy of ESPN)

1/27/1989 - Chambers dunks on Jackson

Mark Jackson finished his career with more assists than every NBA player not named John Stockton. But none of his assists were as memorable as the most reprinted image of his career: getting dunked on by 6’10” Tom Chambers.
The moment happened on a Phoenix Suns fastbreak, where the New York point guard was stuck between Kevin Johnson and Chambers. Johnson dished it to Chambers, who took off from just a few steps inside the foul line. As Chambers elevated, Jackson stood in front of him and tried to shield himself from impact. Instead, Chambers’ knee grazed his shoulder and, using Jackson’s body as leverage, he was able to dunk it over him and even got his whole head above the rim.
Chambers wasn’t done there. In what was an irrelevant result compared to the dunk, Chambers later knocked down a five-foot hook shot in the closing seconds of the game, giving the Suns a 132-130 victory.
Chambers was later given a bronze statue of the dunk by the Phoenix Suns, complete with Mark Jackson standing under his leg. Jackson would be able to forget about the dunk pretty soon; just one day later, the Knicks handed him a five-year contract extension.

Also on this day:

1968: Despite a 52-point outburst from Pete Maravich, LSU falls at home to Kentucky, 121-95. Adolph Rupp gets his 771st win, tying him with Phog Allen for the most ever. He’d pass Allen two days later. [See: January 29th]

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