GO GREEN!!!

After the shoot around in Denver on Friday, I asked Gerald Green if he thought the NBA would ask him to be in the dunk contest during NBA All-Star Weekend?

Of course, I am asking for selfish reasons, in that I would love to see a Mavericks player participate in the dunk contest and actually have a chance to do something great.

Our past participants, Michael Finley and Tony Dumas, although terrific leapers performed poorly when put on such a big stage.

As a Maverick, Finley has had some of the best dunks I have ever seen. Too numerous to recount really!

Dumas, on the other hand, only played a short amount of time but probably had the best dunk that I have ever seen live.

It was in a pre-season game his rookie year. The Mavericks were playing the Washington Bullets (they changed to Wizards in the 1996-1997 season).

He started at the top of the key and drove the lane. Just after the free throw line he elevated to the basket and slammed it home one-handed over the top of big man Kevin Duckworth.

It was awesome!

Someone got a long lens photo of it from the other end of the court(probably longtime Mavericks photographer Layne Murdoch) and the Mavericks marketing department made a double spread poster insert of the dunk in their monthly publication Mavericks Press.

I have it tacked to the wall in my garage.

In hindsight, the tremendous leaping skills of both players didn’t transfer to the dunk contests – at least on those days.

But in Gerald’s case, he has already won the contest. In 2007 while playing with Boston, Gerald pulled out more dunks than the entire Boston Police Department. And truthfully, his hops have only gotten better so it seemed to me that it would be a such a no-brainer to invite him that even the brain trust at the NBA wouldn’t be able to mess this one up.

However, even before I finished the question Gerald insisted “I ain’t doing it this year or any other year!”

I asked for clarification, “How do you know?”

“I know because if they ask me I will tell them ‘No!’

“Why?”

“I already won it and I want to detach myself from that label. I want to be more than just a dunker! As a matter of fact I ain’t dunking in games anymore either. You are going to see me come down for a breakaway and I am going to lay it in! I can hear the fans booing already!”

Wow, the statement almost made me faint. Being a person that has always dreamed of being able to dunk (even just once) I couldn’t imagine having the skill and not using it.

He continued talking to me like Superman explaining to Jimmy Olsen why he doesn’t want to use his super powers for self gain.

“You don’t have to dunk it. Whether you dunk it or lay it in it is still two points!”

He illustrates it with a left handed finger roll at the nearest basket to us.

“Don’t get me wrong if there is a crowd of people and I get it…I am going to go up and dunk the sh*t out of it! But I need to show people that I am more than just a dunker!”

This little side conversation went down around 12:30 pm on Friday on the court at the Pepsi Center.

About 8 hours later, with 9:30 left in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks trailing the Denver Nuggets 77-82, Gerald Green got the ball in transition on the right wing (in a crowd) and went up for a right handed slam dunk.

Twenty-one seconds later, he went up for a running lay-up and got it swatted to the fourth row.

Six seconds later with the shot clock on his back he nailed a 3-point shot.

Fourteen seconds later he is fouled on a running jumper the shot goes in and he sinks the free throw.

Why am I giving you the play-by-play?

The following reasons:

1. He did what he said he was going to do. He dunked in a crowd.
2. He did lay it in (or at least tried) when not in a crowd. The shot was blocked in a viscious, humiliating, take-your-manhood sorta way.
3. He really is more than a dunker. He made two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter
4. He really is more than a dunker and is actually crafty around the basket.

So what the heck does all this mean?

1. Way to dunk, Gerald.
2. You should have dunked, Gerald.
3. 3 points is better than 2, Gerald.
4. 3 points the old-fashion way is better than 2, Gerald.

Ultimate conclusion, it seems only logical with all the talk these days about carbon footprints that we need to increase ours. You have the carbon calculations above and we need to measure Gerald Green’s impact on our environment every night.