White men can’t jump? NBA’s Brent Barry proved they can fly!

Four years after Woody Harrelson’s character Billy Hoyle was struggling to dunk in the iconic basketball film White Men Can’t Jump, Brent Barry soared through the air like an eagle.

The 1996 NBA Slam Dunk Contest gave fans a memorable winner and a sight rarely seen in such competitions when Darrell Armstrong finished his 90 seconds with an unintended layup.

Barry went to the dunk contest as a rookie. The versatile American was selected as the 15th pick in the 1995 draft and had a stellar season with the Los Angeles Clippers.

As Barry recounted to the Los Angeles Times, he had no aspirations to win. He thought he’d dunk the ball and then watch Jerry Stackhouse and Michael Finley battle it out for the win.

That’s different from how things ended up in San Antonio.

Practice dunks sparked an idea

Before the dunk contest, Barry wasn’t known as a high-flying player who had springs in his legs. Sure, he had done a few dunks before the All-Star break, but none were worthy of a highlight reel.

Still, Joe Safety, who used to run the Clippers’ communication department, thought the eventual winner would fit right in. He saw Barry dunking after practice and got to work to get him into the contest.

In 1996, each player had 90 seconds to impress the judges and put on a show for the fans in the contest’s first round. First up was Barry.

He connected on two self-tossed alley-oops and a 360-degree dunk before jogging to the other side of the court.

Like an airplane, Barry gathered his speed from afar. He planted his left foot on the free-throw line with his toes just above it, took off, and dunked the ball like Julius Erving and Michael Jordan had done in years prior.

With a score of 45.5 – after his 90 seconds, Barry implied he would’ve liked a higher total – the rookie made it to the second round. There, he went up against Finley and Greg Minor.

The finals were contested in the best of two dunks. Barry’s first attempt failed, as did Minor’s and Finley’s.

But the latter took the lead in the second round when he tossed the ball toward the rim and finished the move with a windmill dunk. Finley netted 46.2 points.

The high score stayed for a short time.

Cut the trophy in half

Barry wasn’t going to reinvent the wheel. For his last attempt, the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry went to the other side of the court, got the fans behind him, and started sprinting.

The Clipper again trusted his free-throw line dunk. Even though Barry did not intend to participate in the contest in the first place, he took home the trophy with a score of 49.

As weird as it sounds, Barry had the trophy laser cut in half to use as a serving item. “If someone wants to see it, I bring it, and it looks great. It’s in full context there, all put together. But then I can palm the top of the ball and take the top off to reveal its dual purpose — for chips and dip or Halloween candy or whatever you want to do with it,” Barry said to the LA Times.

It is also interesting to note that Barry made history: he was the first white player to win the dunk contest. NBA G League star Mac McClung followed suit in 2023 before defending his crown a year later.

Who was Barry the player?

Although Barry is usually most remembered for his dunks in 1996, there was much more to his career. After all, there are not a lot of players who hang up their sneakers after 14 seasons in the NBA.

For instance, Barry won two rings with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 and 2007. Sure, he was not a team pillar, but he played an important role in the rotation, averaging more than 20 minutes on the court in both seasons.

Barry was a good all-around player who could score, pass and rebound. He was often considered a point forward who could fill the point guard, shooting guard, or small forward positions.

In a way, Barry was ahead of his time. Whereas modern basketball adores great three-point shooters and encourages them to let it fly again and again, long-range shooting was not as prevalent during Barry’s career.

However, Barry did shoot 40.53% from downtown during his career. It would be false to call him the best sniper of all time, but he is among the NBA’s best. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Barry’s three-point percentage is the 33rd best in the NBA, and he leads many legendary shooters like Peja Stojakovic, Ray Allen, and Reggie Miller.

Fans have speculated that Barry could be a star in today’s NBA. Whether they are right or wrong is another matter, but one cannot overlook that Barry had a solid career, although a tad understated.

Nowadays, Barry has not turned his back on basketball. Many video game enthusiasts know his voice from the NBA 2K series; he has been an analyst on TNT, the Spurs’ vice president of basketball operations, and the general manager of their G League side, Austin Spurs.

In August 2024, Barry joined the Phoenix Suns as an assistant coach and will look to help Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and others to the club’s first championship.