First off, I want to personally thank Javale for confirming my thoughts on his slam dunk contest chances. He showed off some especially unparalleled athleticism, as well as providing entertainment I didn't quite know he had in him. He had swag, and most importantly, he dunked three balls after a pass from John Wall. But maybe that wasn't even his best dunk. After watching all his throwdowns again this morning, I have come to the conclusion that this was his best dunk . Everyone is going to remember when he dunked two balls, and then three. But on this particular dunk his head almost hits the backboard as he soars from one side of the rim to the other, and throws it down with one hand. For a seven footer, that was quite stupefying. I got the sense around the league that everyone was impressed with the dunk contest, as well as being under the impression that "it's back." I'm not one of those people. There were things I saw last night that truly angered me. I'm also pretty sure some former NBA greats feel the same way too. Yes, the dunk contest takes place in order to entertain. But the ways these players go about entertaining is not relevant. At this point in the contest, it is rare to dunk without some sort of prop (and yes, Javale was part of this, too). After seeing some of the laughable stunts pulled last night, you could sort of see a look of disgust on the faces of guys like Dr. J and Dominique Wilkens. They had to have been thinking, "what happened to the days when we dunked by just using a ball?" The dunks are entertainment itself, we don't need props to provide it. The singing choir stunt was the most embarrassing of them all. Was it a bit commercial? Maybe a little.
If we are going to have this contest year in and year out, shouldn't the best dunks win it? Let's face it, Blake Griffin was the least impressive dunker last night. Derozan's second dunk and Ibaka's first were both better than anything Blake pulled off. Each one of McGee's dunks were better than Griffin. But none of that matters. Blake won the contest before it started, because the NBA feels the need to let the fans vote so they can make a few extra bucks. Someone please tell me if the nation votes for any other reason than that. It's not like the NBA didn't know that
the entire nation would vote for Blake regardless of what he did. They didn't care. The need for profit is all this All Star Saturday Night is now. Blake Griffin had a choir sing before he dunked over the hood of a Kia (another money hungry move by the NBA). McGee could have dunked over the hood of that car from the free throw line, but there was no need to do that. It sucks that this is what this event is now, but it's just the way it is.
I'm sure Javale new before his final dunk that it was already over, and that's probably why he delivered his worst of the night. Regardless of the outcome, Javale showed off his ability to the fullest last night, and the Wizard's organization should be proud.
I can't forget to mention Charles Barkley's comical quote last night in reference to Javale McGee:
"America doesn't know a whole lot about this guy cause there's no way in hell that we're gonna show the Wizards."Touche, Charles.
I agree with you that overall, McGee was easily the best dunker in this contest, but his second dunk(s) in the second round were pitiful, and apparently according to his interview, the dunk he planned for his second dunk was already done by Blake. I have a feeling it was the arm in the rim off of the alley oop. That's the only reason he won.
ReplyDeleteI think Derozan was the best dunker, and mostly because it was without the use of props and they were still sick dunks.
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