NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2013: Highlights (Video)

As the 2013 NBA All-Star Saturday comes to a close, with Chris Bosh, Swim Cash and Dominique Wilkins winning the shooting starts challenge, Damian Lillard winning the Skills Challenge, and Kyrie Irving winning the three-point contest, it was Toronto Raptors’ rookie guard, Terrence Ross who stole the show as he won the main event, the slam dunk contest.

While there were some not-so-great dunks in the contest, there were some spectacular ones. Let’s recap the dunk competition and highlight the most memorable dunks of the night.

We start off with this dunk by Indiana Pacers’ guard, Gerald Green. The dunk starts off with teammate, Lance Stephanson, bounces the ball off the left side of the backboard. Green, running behind Stephanson hops perfectly in the air, grabs the ball, pumps the ball once and finishes with the reverse slam.

What made this dunk great was the dunk’s degree of difficulty and Green’s perfect timing. Although he made it look easy dunking on his first try, this dunk was perhaps one of the most difficult of the night. If Green was just one second off, I don’t think he would’ve made it. Plus, you have to give credit to Stephanson for passing the ball so accurately off the backboard. If it was a little higher or a bit lower, Green’s dunk would’ve failed miserably.

James White was perhaps the most favoured dunker to win this competition. His best dunk of the competition was his two-handed dunk from the free-throw line. White was cleared for take-off and throw a high dribble at the beginning. After that, he proceeded with running fast through the airline strip of eight flight attendants, and jumped from the foul line and dunk with two hands. The dunk was difficult. As we seen White miss several times, you could tell it wouldn’t be easy.

This dunk was hyped from the get-go and although it was a bit disappointing that he didn’t dunk form the free throw line, it was still a great dunk. Dunking the ball with two-hands is more difficult than dunking with one. Nonetheless, the execution of the dunk itself was great even though it didn’t exceed everyone’s expectations. I’d like to see you do that dunk.

This dunk by Terrence Ross was my favourite of the night. Making it look easy, Ross dribbles down the court on the baseline, hoped outside the post of the key, lifted himself in the air while spinning the ball around him finished off by grabbing the ball with his right hand slamming the ball down.

This dunk was great because it looked simple and looked easy. When it comes to dunks, I’m more a fan of the classic dunks. Not those ridiculous jumping-over-the-hood-of-a-car dunk type of dunks. The dunk was simple, looked clean, and that’s why I liked it. It could’ve been better if he made it on his first attempt but I’m happy with the outcome and execution of the dunk.

This dunk by former NBA dunk contest champion, Jeremy Evans, was one of his best. A prop was set up by Evans in the post of the key. While the prop was covered, Evans dribbled from half-court , jumped in the key and hop over his mysterious prop.

This dunk was great for many reason. First, Evan’s lift-off time was just perfect. If he was running any slow and/or jumped any lower, he would’ve probably knocked down his prop and hurt himself really hard. The prop of the dunk was great because it left everyone in awe as to wondering what in the world it was. When he revealed the prop, it was a piece of art of Evans committing that dunk, drawn by himself. Who would’ve ever thought Evans was such an artists. Overall great panting by Evans and even better dunk from him.

This dunk by Ross was fantastic. Paying homage to Raptor great, Vince Carter, Ross throws on a throw-back Raptors’ Carter jersey, as his partner bounces the ball off the glass. From there, Ross grabs the ball with two hands, passes the ball to his right hand and he finishes by throwing it down in the basket.

This was one of those dunks Vince Carter would’ve done in his prime. Although it was similar to Gerald Green’s dunk, Ross added more flair and more energy. That dunk woke fans, players and everyone in the crowd from suffering another snooze-fest-of-a-dunk-contest. In short, Ross brought the ruckus with that dun k and what better way than paying tribute to Carter.

This dunk by Denver Nuggets’ forward, Kenneth Faried, was a superb try. Like the Terrence Ross dunk, this dunk by the Manimal was simple and clean. Although he messed up a few tries, this dunk was his best of the contest. Farried passed the ball of the backboard, and finished by committing a reverse dunk.

The dunk itself may not of “wow” the whole crowd, or may not of had a lot of creativity, but it was a difficult dunk. He executed it greatly and it was by far one of the hardest dunks of the night. Give the manimal some credit. If you can do this dunk, get back at me.

Last but definitely not least, we have Eric Bledsoe and his dunk attempt. On this dunk, the 6’1″ guard, Bledsoe bounced the ball off the hardwood, and as soon as the ball came down, Bledsoe raced down the court, jumped, grabbed the ball, pumped it and finished with a rock-the-cradle dunk, reverse windmill dunk.

Bledsoe redeemed himself with his second dunk. His timing on this dunk was fantastic. For being just above six feet, it’s harder for him to do this dunk and just completing it made look that much better. Everything was one point, although his landing would’ve been better. However, this dunk might of been overlooked. Nonetheless, this dunk was one of the best of the competition and hopefully we’ll see more of him dunking in future Clippers games.