Little-known Utah Jazz forward Jeremy Evans was by far the underdog going into Saturday night’s Slam Dunk Competition. That was until he ended up winning it.
Evans, who replaced the injured Knicks guard Iman Shumpert (who, as a Knicks fan, wanted to see compete), didn’t start off so well. He began by softly reversing an off-the-bounce self-alley-oop with a camera on his head.
It was an interesting idea, but it didn’t come off nearly as well as he’d hoped because the pass carried him too close to the rim to throw down with any tenacity. It also didn’t help having the weight of a camera on his head either.
The next round got a lot better for Evans, who got a little help from Jazz teammate Gordon Hayward. Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs72wWNJ160&feature=relatedAs you can hear, Shaquille O’Neal was pumped up about this dunk, calling it “one of the top 10 dunks” in NBA Slam Dunk Competition history.
This dunk proved to be the dunk of the night, which propelled him to victory over opponents Paul George of the Indiana Pacers, Derrick Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chase Budinger of the Houston Rockets.
Every year, the Slam Dunk Competition continues to have its surprises and crazy dunks.
Too bad the NBA can’t force players to compete in the Slam Dunk Competition. Watching Griffin and Lebron go at it would be epic.
This is the first year in a long time I didn’t watch the dunk contest. Usually there is at least one interesting person in it, but this year there really wasn’t anybody I cared to watch. We need to get back to the days when the big-time stars actually compete in the dunk contest.