Dunk Contest ‘06: White got slammed

April 3rd, 2006 | Posted by Matt

James White is perhaps the greatest dunker that not many people have even heard of. His senior year, during the McDonald’s All-American weekend, he lost a dunk contest to David “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” Lee, the former Florida Gator standout. Yes, that’s right, David Lee - the same guy who looks like he should be catching air on a skateboard rather than catching air on a tomahawk jam.

White’s an incredible dunker, but he just can’t seem to win any of the contests he’s in. Most recently, White participated in the 2006 NCAA Dunk Contest against Memphis’ Rodney Carney, UNC’s David Noel and Michigan State’s Maurice Ager, among others. In the end though, his numerous free throw line dunks (including a two-handed monster jam and a windmill throwdown) were not enough for Noel’s cartwheel-into-a-backflip combo and other generic slams.

Here’s a video with highlights from the 2006 NCAA Dunk Contest, James White’s free throw line slams included.

James White is just an incredible dunker, but is he a great basketball player? No, not at all. White is in the same breed as guys like Ronnie Fields (former teammate of Kevin Garnett at Farragut Academy in Chicago and Illinois’ Mr. Basketball) and “Baby Jordan” Harold Miner. Yes they could all score, but they needed to be within dunking distance to do so. For most of these guys that just meant within the three-point line, which is still pretty impressive.

So basketball fans, just wait - I’m sure James White will be coming to a dunk contest near you sometime in the future.