Blake Griffin wins 2011 NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest (Part–2)
After DeMar DeRozan and Serge Ibaka completed their attempts, JaVale McGee stepped up with his shot of going into the next round; and he was impressive to say the least.
In his first dunk of the opening round, JaVale McGee - spurred on by his mom and WNBA legend Pamela McGee - had a second basket wheeled out on a forklift. With the crowd and the jury still at odds about what the seven-foot tall forward from the Washington
Wizards was up to, McGee calmly stood on the court as he watched the two posts come line up side by side.
Then it finally happened.
McGee approached the rim with two basketballs and pulled off an audacious move. He threw the ball in his right hand off the backboard, canned the one in his left through the rim on the left, before catching the first ball and jamming it through the hoop
on the right. Unsurprisingly though, he got a 50.
And if that wasn’t enough to please the crowd, he went for a third in his very next attempt.
The three balled dunk, if we can call it that, unfolded with McGee grabbing two balls in the hands and John Wall ready to lob the third at the rim. This one however, caused McGee a few stutters. After several attempts though, he finally found his mark and
it was enough to earn him a trip to the final round.
As for Blake Griffin, the first round dunks proved to be just enough to earn him a pass into the final showdown with McGee. He totalled 96 points; just one more than DeMar DeRozan. When Griffin was asked in the break between the first and final rounds as
to what sort of dunk he would attempt, his response was simple; there aren’t many left to play with.
While Griffin prepared for the dunk, his coach Kenny Smith brought on a musical choir. ‘We believe’ they sang, as the slam dunking torch bearer of the 2010-11 season sprinted towards the silver Kia car, received an assist from Baron Davis and then slammed
it with all his ferocity into the rim.
McGee had made all the early impressions on the night but after seeing Griffins’ high-flying move, deep down he knew it was over. McGee tried to do the spectacular with a fade away dunk, but it was not even close to Griffin’s ripper.
"It was actually my idea to use the car," Griffin proclaimed after the contest. "When they (sponsors) first came to me with the dunk contest idea, they said there were no rules. I was like, 'So I can jump over a car?' Kind of playing around.”
He added, "They were like, 'Yeah. And I thought 'Oh, maybe I have to do it now'."
In short, this year’s Sprite Slam Dunk Competition was a great success. Between the creativity of McGee, the athleticism of DeRozan and Ibaka, and the craziness of Griffin's leaping slam over a car, this contest will be one that's talked about for years.
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