Years from now, the lasting image of the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest will be Blake Griffin jumping over a KIA car on his home floor of Staples Center. It might not have been the best dunk of the night, but it was the most memorable, and helped Griffin take home the trophy as the 2011 Slam Dunk champion. No matter what happens Sunday in the All-Star Game, this will be a memorable All-Star Weekend. In case you missed it last night on TNT...
The dunk understandably garnered reaction from just about everybody. SB Nation's own Steve Perrin and Dexter Fishmore were in the house last night, and offered their reactions. From Clips Nation, Perrin gave his assessment of the Clipper:
Now, when I first heard the idea, I wondered if he was 'just' going to jump over the hood, as opposed to the tallest part of the car. That's what he did in the end, and for me, it was a bit anticlimactic. I wonder if others got their hopes up for something more, and felt a little let down in the end. The "Baron throwing the lob pass from the sunroof" was a nice touch, and Baron was having so much fun that he definitely added to the show - he looked like jack-in-the-box with his head poking up. When the dunk actually happened, it was spectacular. He did it easily. In retrospect, one wonders why it took so long for someone to do this dunk - you know that both Kia and the NBA were absolutely thrilled with it, and I suspect that the idea might have come from the marketing department at one of those entities. It should be noted that, to his credit, Blake hit both of his final round dunks on the first attempt.
Over on Silver Screen and Roll, Fishmore offered his thoughts:
2011 will be remembered as the year of narrative complexity. There were more props than ever, it seemed. A choir was involved at one point. Ibaka constructed a whole one-act play, about a kid missing his toy and needing to Serge to rescue it for him, around one of his dunks. Some people were complaining about the excess of theatrics, but I don't mind it. As long as the show keeps moving at a reasonably brisk pace, I say crank up the goofiness.