The 2011 All Star Sprite Slam Dunk Competition was nothing but entertaining. The four contestant were all deserving participants each with their own unique surprises, props, and ofcourse dunks.
DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors was the only contestant with the same aura as other flexible and loose dunkers like Andre Igoudala, Vince Carter, and Jason Richardson who all won the contest. Unfortunately he settled for the 3rd place and wasn't able to perform a 3rd dunk.
Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Blake Griffin fought for the lone spot to get to the next round against JaVale McGee who scored the highest after 2 dunks. He went for a classic MJ free throw line dunk for his first dunk, and he did it far more than MJ but only score 45 for that dunk. His second dunk involves a stuff toy that he needs to retrieve for a boy who was ofcourse also part of the props. He jump and took the toy off the ring with his teeth and dunked the ball afterward. His overall score for the 2 dunks wasn't enough as Griffin went on the final against Mcgee.
The final round. Griffin VS McGee.
JaVale McGee of Washington Wizards surprised a lot of people pulling off never before seen dunks. Considering that he was a tall player just like Dwight Howard, he got a lot of credits for his dunks and together with Griffin made the final showdown a close one.
Mcgee brought along a 13 foot ring and place it beside the other default ring. He went on two dunk 2 balls at each ring on one jump. It was a very unique dunk but it took him multiple tries before he got it right.
Another unique dunk he had was dunking three balls all at once. He did a baseline one handed from below the ring dunk as well that was very hard to pull off considering his tall frame. His final dunk was the least impressive as he just went off to jump high as he can and went for a one handed throw down.
Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers rocked the Staple Center with his very first dunk. The hype surrounding him during the slam dunk contest was quickly realized with a tremendous double handed 360 throw down. It was nearly perfect as he scored 49 for the dunk.
For his second dunk, it could have been perfect if he got it in his first try. Baron Davis assisted him by throwing the ball on the backboard, but unfortunately the timing was off and Griffin couldn't complete the dunk. The degree of difficulty of the first dunks was hard and so as the other, and with no much time left Baron throw the ball again off the backboard and Griffin went for it and just did the windmill. It was still good to look at though and was enough to get him to the final round.
The third dunk was a reminiscence of Vince Carter's elbow in the rim dunk in 2000. Griffin version was a little bit different, he throw the ball on the board and went for a follow up one handed dunk leaving his elbow inside the rim. He did it more powerful than Carter's and also hanged longer.
Blake's finale dunk was full of props. He and his coach plan this all along as in the beginning his coach brag that his student griffin didn't need any props well not until his last dunk. They parked a Kia branded car below the ring and with choir props singing "I beleive I can fly" in the background it was bound to be a Blakeshow wrapping up the contest. Baron Davis gave the assist from inside the car and Blake jump from the front hood of the car and slam the ball in.
The contest was not yet over, as it was Mcgee's turn for his last dunk. Mcgee last dunk wasn't enough to beat Griffin's even though the car jump itself wasn't also Blake's best dunk of the night.
In the end it was all about the Blakeshow. Congrats and hope to see more of the Blakeshow in the next slam dunk contest.
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