Skip to main content

There have been some absolutely amazing dunk contests in the NBA's storied history. Saturday night's was not among them.


 

This year's four contestants were Obi Toppin of the Knicks, Juan Toscano-Anderson of the Warriors, Cole Anthony of the Magic and Jalen Green of the Rockets. Toppin took home the trophy, but there's no doubt it was a lackluster affair.


There were some fun moments. Anthony wore his father's jersey and Timberland boots for his first-round dunk. Toscano-Anderson dunked over teammate Andrew Wiggins. Toppin won it with a sweet off-the-backboard, between-the-legs dunk. But there were too many missed attempts that led to a general lack of excitement around the event.


Former NBA star Dwyane Wade gave the entire contest a six out of 10. That tells you everything you need to know right there.


Here are a few of the highlights, and some reaction to the contest overall.


As for the official scoring, Toppin and Toscano-Anderson moved on to the final with total scores of 90 and 87, respectively, after their first two dunks. Green finished with 83 and Anthony finished with 70.


In the final, Toppin scored 45 and 47 on his two dunks, while Toscano-Anderson struggled, scoring 39 and 30. There were no 50-point dunks for the entire event.


The dunk contest has definitely lost its luster over the years, but the 2022 version may be a new low point. Don't be shocked if there are changes to the format or rules by next year in an effort to make it more entertaining.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bill Russell Once Explained Why He Didn't Bother With Celtics Fans: "When I Was A Star, The Fans Called Us The 'Boston Globetrotters' Because The Celtics Had Black Players."

  While the NBA is a beacon for freedom and tolerance in America, things didn't start off that way. In a place like Boston, during the 50s and 60s, racial tension was a pretty serious problem, and superstar big man Bill Russell had to deal with it on a game-to-game basis. Today, it can be hard for us to imagine just how difficult being a black basketball player really was back then. Fortunately, we have some clips: "The number one paper was the Boston Herald and they didn't like the idea of an NBA team having black players. Out there, the star was Bob Cousy. No matter what I did, Cousy was the star. I remember I had a game where I had 25 points, 25 rebounds, 10 blocks, and the Boston Herald said I was lucky to play with Cousy." Unfortunately, the media didn't give Russell his respect back then. Despite being the best player on the court, and on his team, Cousy and others always got the spotlight. Even the fans weren't very accepting of Bill: "I didn't...

From Deep: At long last, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets can envision getting to the top of the mountain

  Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop...

Sixers' James Harden backs teammate Joel Embiid for MVP: 'He deserves it, man'

  James Harden has been a member of the Philadelphia 76ers for less than two months, but that's been more than enough time for him to appreciate the brilliance of Joel Embiid. The duo is expected to help the Sixers compete for a championship, but Harden believes another trophy should be on its way to Philly this year.  In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Harden backed Embiid for MVP, saying "he deserves it, man." "I've only been here for a few weeks, but I already see his mindset," Harden said. "He wants to win. Some guys just want numbers, but he has both. He has the mentality of winning, and he scores the ball at a high level. I think he's prepared himself, especially coming off last year, for this year to be one of his best years." This has indeed been one of Embiid's best years. He's averaging a career-high 29.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.4 blocks while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 35.8 percent f...