Jumping Higher With Tricks In Hand
The NBA Slam Dunk contest this year returned to dunks that were more theatrical and a wide ranging use of external tricks and items to help complement the vertical leaping ability of these NBA athletes and showcasing how athletes are jumping higher than ever. We saw two backboards, stuffed animals and in the finale, Blake Griffin leaping over a car to throw down the winning dunk.
If you were looking for a show this year, you were not disappointed! The dunkers this year brought in choirs, flag bearers and an amazing triple dunk. Yes you heard me, JaVale McGee ran from the left corner of the court with a basketball in each hand and proceeded to leap in the air, dunk one after another and then a third ball that was lobbed in.
Simply amazing and what I thought was the dunk of the night. It was this triple dunk that helped JaVale get to the finals against Blake Griffin. Now the theatrics really began.
Now in my opinion, Blake’s final dunk wasn’t as hard as many of the earlier dunks in the competition, however, the showmanship of bringing a choir to half court, leaping over the hood of a car and having your teammate, Baron Davis, alley-oop the ball to you as you leapt over the car was enough to clinch the win. It just shows how the dunk contest has evolved from the days of Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan to an even more creative circus type of environment.
Is it better now? Perhaps to some, it is definitely more exciting as you wait to see how the athletes will attempt to top previous unbelievable highly theatrical dunks. However seeing some of the “old school” dunks from earlier dunk contests makes me wish for less props and more hops!
Leave a comment and tell me how you feel, do you like the new dunking styles or cars and gimmicks, or are you a fan of the windmill and tomahawk with flair?
