It's back Baby, the dunk contest is back! Finally, I think its safe to say that the NBA Slam Dunk Contest has re-established itself as the All-Star Weekend's premiere event. Blake Griffin lived up to the hype in what was the most surprising and exciting dunk contest, maybe of all time (that's right I said it.). Fans of the game saw some memorable jams, and that's an understatement. Believe it or not, it wasn't just because of Blake Griffin either. With some of the great past contest winner's from Clyde "The Glide" Drexler to Dominique Wilkins to the original Slam-master himself Dr. J looking on, all four of this year's events competitors brought their A-game, and each one delivered their own special brand of dunk that we wont soon be forgetting. My biggest complaint of the contest, besides JaVale McGee getting hosed (I'll get into this later) was that all four contestants didn't make it into the final round. With the way they each performed, believe me, they all could have been winners in their own right.
In the first round, up-and-coming second year player Demar Derozan kicked off the contest with his best Vince Carter impression (Carter had perhaps the best 3-dunk sequence of all time in his 2000 slam dunk winning performance) splitting the ball between his legs and around his back for the one-handed slam. The only difference was that this time, the ball was lobbed off the side of the base of the basket. Not to be out-done, the next contestant, Congo native Serge Ibaka one-upped Dr. J and slammed the ball from behind the foul line (needless too say, Irving, who was in attendance, wasn't too happy). Ibaka was robbed by the judges, as this slam should have yielded a perfect score but was given a mediocre one. The 3rd contestant, Washington's own JaVale "Up-phreys" McGee performed what many are calling the dunk of the night. Although it took a few attempts, McGee brought out a second basket and proceeded to dunk two balls simultaneously, one off of a self alley-oop. Similar to a dunk pulled off long ago by Larry Nance, the jam received a perfect score and a finals appearance for the 7 footer was a near certainty. Finally, not to be outdone by the unknowns, Contest favorite Blake Griffin delivered a 360 degree one-handed tomahawk jam that was just incredible.
The second round was more of the same. DeRozan received a perfect score for his second dunk, which was a self-lobbed one-handed up and under the basket jam, an incredibly difficult move to pull off. And oh yeah, he got it done on his first try too. Ibaka's second dunk was one of the weaker of the contest, which is saying a lot. After a strange skit to set up his dunk where a child wanders on to the court crying that he "lost" his stuffed animal above the rim. Ibaka comes to the rescue by snagging the animal off the rim using only his teeth while simultaneously slamming the ball. I guess the point was to show how high he could get (mouth level with the rim). Blake Griffin's wasn't much better. His original attempt, if he'd been able to get it off, would have been something to write home about, but after 7 failed attempts (he was trying to lob the ball to himself off the side of the backboard, and 360 while reverse jamming to the other side of the rim), he decided to go with a more traditional side-of-the-rim tomahawk of a lob. It was enough to get him into the finals, but just barely. McGee decided to stick with the theme of multiple balls, this time simultaneously dunking 3-balls (a first for the dunk contest) at once, one off of an alley-oop from teammate (and Rookie/Sophomore game MVP...dude had 22 assists, a record!), John Wall. This set up a Griffin vs McGee final in what was sure to be an instant classic.
Blake Griffin decide to take yet another page out of Vince Carter's book for his first dunk of the final round. Again paying homage to the 2000 slam dunk champion and the original innovator, Griffin slammed the ball along with his entire forearm into the basket off of a self-lob, hanging on the rim for a good 5-7 seconds before lettering go. The kid bruised the hell out of his arm to boot. JaVale McGee fired back by running the length of the baseline and cradling the ball one-handed underneath the rim, and into the basket. It was neck in neck as the two finalists prepared for their final dunks, that's when things really started to get crazy. What you've probably noticed about this yeas dunk contest, was that presentation was everything. The showman's aspect of the contest really didn't take shape until 2009, when eventual Champion Dwight Howard entered a phone booth (a la Superman) before Dunking on a 13 Ft rim (a normal rim is 12 feet) in what was his final dunk. Well, Blake Griffin's final dunk was just a flashy. The rookie not only brought out a choir to sing "I Believe I Can Fly" during his final slam, but he wowed everyone has he dunked over the hood of a car off of a lob through the sun roof by teammate Baron Davis. It was showy, and enough to give Griffin the 2011 Slam Dunk crown.
Even though Griffin gave a phenomenal performance and was definitely deserved of the title, I still think McGee was robbed. He had some of the most innovative dunks ever performed in the history of the contest. Two balls! Three balls! Dunking like a guard even though he's a 7-footer?! He was certainly a showstopper but his last dunked lacked the luster that it needed to put him over the top. I think that if he saved his multiple ball dunks until the end, the outcome may have been different. Or maybe not...Griffin is infinitely more popular than McGee and the winner was decided by the fans. Griffin received 68% of the votes (Really?!) so maybe it was a forgone conclusion to think Up-phrey's could have pulled off the upset. What I do know is this: Regardless of the outcome, these guys all made their mark in dunk contest history and brought this of late unheralded event back to prominence as it once was in late 90's/early 2000's. Sleep easy slam dunk fans, this event isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
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