To end All-Star Saturday night the New York Knicks’ Obi Toppin beat out Golden State Warriors’ Juan Toscano-Anderson in the final round of the Slam Dunk contest. It really came down to who could convert the most dunks, and when it was all said and done, Toppin was more consistent in both rounds.
Toppin was the runner-up in 2021, falling to the Portland Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons, but walked away with the hardware this time around. He didn’t have much competition when he got to the final round, as Toscano-Anderson put up a score of just 39 on his first attempt, then failed to nail a dunk on his second one, taking the pressure off of Toppin to win it. Still, though, Toppin threw down some impressive dunks in an event that certainly had more misses than impressive makes.
Perhaps the best dunk of the night from Toppin came on his first attempt in the final round, when he went off the backboard and between the legs on the first try.
He had another nice finish in the first round, when he went behind-the-back while jumping over someone for the impressive finish.
Overall, though, the dunk contest was again a lackluster event. During the broadcast, NBA legends Dwyane Wade and Reggie Miller talked about how the NBA needs to rearrange the order of Saturday night’s events, by putting the 3-Point Contest last and having the dunk contest in the middle of the broadcast. Though that wouldn’t solve the problem of the event struggling to generate the same level of buzz as it once did a few years ago, it would certainly end the night with what has become the more exciting event lately in the 3-Point Contest.
Courtesy: CBS Sports
