Photo credit: Mark J. Reblas, USA Today Sports

Gerald Green Lost His Finger While Dunking

Last season, the Houston Rockets added an extra nine fingers to their roster. 9? Yes, Gerald Green lost a finger when he was a kid.

In 6th Grade, when he was 11 years old, Gerald Green lost about half of his right ring finger while trying to dunk on a makeshift hoop. He and his younger brother had a jumping contest at home one day, testing their vertical leap. Green was wearing his mother’s ring as the ring caught on a nail and his finger was ripped to the bone. This lead to an amputation.

“I was teasing my brother, ‘You can’t jump this high,’ ” Green said. “I went up and I yanked my finger off. It was still intact but they couldn’t save it during surgery.”

Just think about it. Green, one of the world’s best dunkers, can’t palm a ball with his right hand.

 

“If I could palm a ball I probably could have more dunks than I have in my career, but I still can get the job done”

Well, ‘getting the job done’ seems like a fairly underwhelming statement when you see Gerald get up and dunk it.