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Women's Athletics Gets a Jump in Slam Dunk Contest
By Eric Prisbell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 30, 2004; 10:59 AM
In what could prove a significant step in the evolution of women's athletics, a high school girls basketball player did more than just compete in a slam dunk contest Monday against five of the nation's best high school boys players.
Candace Parker, a 6-3 17-year-old from Naperville, Ill., won the event, beating a field of male competitors that included at least two who could be playing in the NBA next season.
"I was saying earlier that I hope 10 years from now this isn't a big deal," said Parker, who will play at Tennessee next season. "That would be my dream. That 10 years from now three or four girls enter the dunk contest and it's not a big deal. It's not like, 'Wow, she won.' I hope that happens."
The event was held at Carl Albert High as a prelude to Wednesday's McDonald's All-American Game. Both the slam dunk contest and the boys' game will be shown Wednesday on ESPN.
The packed gymnasium crowd rooted for Parker throughout the competition.
After being introduced as one of the best high school players ever, Parker was greeted with a standing ovation before her first dunk attempt.
Later, the crowd cheered wildly after her last attempt, a right-handed slam that was spiced up because she covered her eyes with her left arm during the final few steps toward the basket.
Parker's final dunk earned 79 out of a possible 80 points from the eight judges. The only holdout was Barry Sanders, the former NFL star running back, who gave her a nine.
The unlikely winner upstaged, at least for the moment, a highly anticipated McDonald's All-American boys' game that will include as many as 12 players who could skip college and enter the NBA draft. Some players have likened the game to an NBA tryout that will determine draft positioning and salaries.
For Parker, there will be no professional payday in June. She will attend college even though she outdunked Josh Smith, a potential lottery pick, and Rudy Gay, a Spalding High senior who has committed to play for Connecticut next season.
Longtime basketball observer Howard Garfinkel, one of the competition's judges and a member of the game selection committee, said he never thought he would see a woman win a slam dunk contest.
"It means the women are getting better," said Garfinkel, one of the most respected talent evaluators over the past three decades.
In 2002, Lisa Leslie became the first WNBA player ever to dunk in a game.
The first women's dunk in the college game was made by West Virginia's Georgeann Wells in 1984. North Carolina's Charlotte Smith dunked in 1994 and Tennessee's Michelle Snow dunked three times during her college career.
"By the nature of our bodies, women are behind," said Jennifer Azzi, one of the judges and a five-year WNBA veteran. "But we're catching up to where the men were, say, 30 years ago."
Woman Wins Slam Dunk Contest Against Men
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Woman Wins Slam Dunk Contest Against Men
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Did you show compassion today?
Way, way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, my father and I were watching the Olympics yet again. At that time the four minute mile was a big deal. By the time I got into high school, we had a big runner who ran four minute miles for training. During that particular Olympics they had a lot of flashbacks to old B&W footage of Olympian from (I'm guessing) the 1940's and 1950's. What a huge difference in performance!
My dad's explanation was this:
Expectations are everything. Once expectations are set high, a human will do amazing things to get there. Technology improves, training is rethought, and above all that expectation and positive attitude drives them home. Maybe they'll find that what they expected wasn't possible by the most obvious route.
I asked him then about the physical differences between men and women, and would the gap ever be closed.
I smile when I think about his answer.
He says women will close the gap when they stop trying to arrive to the same place by the same route.
When he elaborated he talked about a woman's endurance compared to a man's. That may be old school and outdated but it is totally ingrained in my mind still. He said as far as running if women paced themselves in accordance with their bodies instead of a man's pace they'd close the gap. I don't know if his belief has borne out. Did the slam dunker bear out through an edge in endurance? An edge in adrenaline function? Or did she just go toe to toe with the boys with exactly the same style and training methods?
I guess what I'm saying is that maybe we don't have to play harder than men anymore, and maybe we never had to. We have to play harder than we've expected ourselves to, and harder than our predecessors. We have to play smarter too, and innovate. We have to learn more about our bodies and innovate innovate innovate based on that knowledge.
Martial arts is a great arena for that because we're not trying to achieve a uniform appearance anyway, if that makes sense. Individual style is encouraged. I think our performance in the martial arts is bearing some excellent results because of that.
Take care!
Kami
My dad's explanation was this:
Expectations are everything. Once expectations are set high, a human will do amazing things to get there. Technology improves, training is rethought, and above all that expectation and positive attitude drives them home. Maybe they'll find that what they expected wasn't possible by the most obvious route.
I asked him then about the physical differences between men and women, and would the gap ever be closed.
I smile when I think about his answer.
He says women will close the gap when they stop trying to arrive to the same place by the same route.
When he elaborated he talked about a woman's endurance compared to a man's. That may be old school and outdated but it is totally ingrained in my mind still. He said as far as running if women paced themselves in accordance with their bodies instead of a man's pace they'd close the gap. I don't know if his belief has borne out. Did the slam dunker bear out through an edge in endurance? An edge in adrenaline function? Or did she just go toe to toe with the boys with exactly the same style and training methods?
I guess what I'm saying is that maybe we don't have to play harder than men anymore, and maybe we never had to. We have to play harder than we've expected ourselves to, and harder than our predecessors. We have to play smarter too, and innovate. We have to learn more about our bodies and innovate innovate innovate based on that knowledge.
Martial arts is a great arena for that because we're not trying to achieve a uniform appearance anyway, if that makes sense. Individual style is encouraged. I think our performance in the martial arts is bearing some excellent results because of that.
Take care!
Kami
One seed, many lives.
