Is Lakeview's Davis Barr the new 'Mr. Dunkenstein' after breaking a backboard with a dunk

BATTLE CREEK - Does this mean Lakeview basketball player Davis Barr needs a nickname?

In the tradition of legendary dunkers like Darryl Dawkins or even Shaquille O'Neal, the fact that they broke a backboard or two and tore down the rim on their dunks led to them being part of the basketball lexicon.

Barr has now put himself in that conversation after breaking a backboard with a dunk during a Spartan high school game on Tuesday.

On the back of memorable glass-shattering dunks, Darryl Dawkins became Chocolate Thunder in the 1970s, and in the 1990s, O'Neil became one of those one-name superstars - Shaq.

As far as Battle Creek high school basketball history goes, at a much lower level, of course, what Barr did rises to the height of those accomplishments.

During Lakeview's one-sided 66-41 win over Wyoming Kelloggsville at Lakeview High School, the Spartans' Barr broke free for a fast break and went up to dunk the basketball. And when he came down, the rim came down with him. Or, at least it was bent enough that it had to be replaced.

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"It's been crazy. With social media being what it is, it has blown up. Everybody was talking about it at school, people that know our program talking about. It's pretty cool for Davis," Lakeview coach Steve Wichmann said. "I was asked about a nickname for him because of that...don't know, I'll have to think about that a bit."

Barr had to describe the dunk to friends at school all day the day after, but he didn't seem to be tired of telling the story.

"I had a breakaway, went off one foot and two-hand slammed it down on the right side of the hoop," Barr said. "I didn't even realize it was broken, but I heard a noise. Then, I was just running back down the court and the refs blew a whistle and started pointing and I figured out it was broken.

"It felt good, knowing I did something everybody thinks is pretty cool. Everybody kinda wanted to talk about it today. I was just telling them, I didn't hang on the rim or anything like that - just two-handed dunk and the rim kind of snapped off in my hand."

"Send it in, Davis!".... doesn't ring as true as "Send it in, Jerome!" a glass-shattering, backboard-breaking dunk in a college game in 1988 by Jerome Lane made famous by announcer Bill Raftery. But it does have a ring to it.

A lot of the aforementioned anecdotes might seem a bit dated. But that's because you have to reach back kind of far to talk about bringing-down-the rim kind of dunks - especially in the Battle Creek area. Or anywhere, after backboards were improved so rims wouldn't be damaged as easily.

"That's the first time I've ever seen something like that. It hasn't happened at Lakeview in any game I've coached before in the 20-some years I've been here. It was kind of crazy," Wichmann said. "When it happened it was all hands on deck. We had to get a ratchet set from the weight room, grabbed that, went in and got one of the rims in the auxiliary gym and took the old rim off and put that one on. We still had three minutes left in the third quarter, so I figured we had to finish the game. Wyoming Kelloggsville had come a long way.

"Not sure why it happened. Could have been the angle he came in, maybe some rim fatigue. But I know this, 20 years from now, it's not going to be anything like that. He's going to be telling the story and it's going to be how he came down, dunked hard and shattered the backboard and glass went flying," Wichmann added with a laugh.

Getting a dunk in a high school game is memorable enough, but Barr has something that won't soon be forgotten by those that witnessed what he did. And if he ever needs a reminder, there is that bent rim as a trophy.

"That was my first in-game dunk. Been waiting for that all season," Barr said. "I was ready to get one. When it happened and we were waiting around, the guys really couldn't believe it even happened. They know I can dunk, but none of us saw that coming.

"What's cool about it, though, is the school said I could probably keep the rim."

And what about that nickname?

"One of the teachers, Mr. (Matt) Miller called me 'Mr. Dunkenstein' today," Barr said. "So maybe that's what they'll call me. Probably not, though."

Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @billbroderick

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Backboard-breaking dunk highlights Lakeview boys basketball game