Twenty years ago, Vince Carter established himself as an NBA icon with a legendary Slam Dunk Contest performance, one that has basically made the event a joke today because save for the Jason Richardsons and Zach LaVines of the world, hardly anyone has been able to measure up ever since.
One of the most memorable dunks of Vince Carter's night in February 2000 was a throw-down in which Carter stuffed his entire arm into the basket up to his elbow.
But was he the first to do it? Or was His Airness himself the pioneer of the elbow slam?
Back in 1988, Michael Jordan appeared to do the same dunk, except his was of the reverse variety:
— David Astramskas (@redapples) February 14, 2020
You can't really see all that well in the video, because the end of the clip gets cut off, but check out the photos below it that appear to show proof that Jordan did, in fact, shove his entire arm into the basket up to his elbow.
I'm very surprised that MJ himself, who is well-known for puffing his chest out, has not brought this up at some point. Perhaps he just doesn't remember, or maybe he simply doesn't feel it is important enough to mention.
After all, Jordan won six championships and is the greatest player in the history of basketball, so maybe he just wanted to let Carter have his moment in the sun.
All of that being said, the fact that Michael Jordan may have done it first does not take away from what was an immortal outing from Vince Carter on that cold winter night two decades ago.
My goodness, how time flies.
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