ABA - 1976

On January 27, 1976 at McNichols Sports Arena during halftime of the 1976 ABA All Star Game the first-ever Slam Dunk Contest was held, which was won by Julius Erving of the New York Nets over David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets, Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels, and George Gervin and Larry Kenon of the San Antonio Spurs. There was a format each competitor had to follow in which they must attempt 5 dunks in a row under two minutes. One from a standing position, one from a distance of ten feet away from the basket (which is basically the bottom of the semi circle that surrounds the free throw line in the Key. The next 3 were freelance positions, one coming in from the left side of the basket, one coming in from the right side of the basket and finally from either corner down the baseline to the basket. They were judged on artistic ability, imagination, body flow as well as fan response. Artis Gilmore went first followed by George Gervin, Larry Kenon, David Thompson and finally Julius Erving. George Gervin and David Thompson both missed a dunk during their routines which counted as a zero (scores were not announced to the audience). David Thompson did a 360 degree dunk to finish his routine. All competitors had to perform a dunk from 10 feet, but Julius Erving started marking his steps from the free throw line (15 feet away). He then completed a dunk from the free throw line.