Obi Toppin jumped over teammate Julius Randle and his dad Obadiah Toppin for a windmill dunk.
But it wasn’t enough, as the 6-foot-9 power forward lost a razor-sharp decision to Anfernee Simons on Sunday in the Slam Dunk Contest during halftime of the NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta.
The Knicks rookie finished second when Simons, the Trail Blazers guard, won on the five judges’ cards, 3-2, on a final dunk that he never did well.
Toppin’s final dunk was a sprint to the bucket from the midcourt, which jumped into the air just inside the foul line while stopping the ball between his legs and hitting the ground. However, ‘Air Obi’ didn’t seem to get enough lift and power on that final strike.
Simons replied with a kiss-dunk as he caught his own lob, slammed it shut while kissing the edge, but was a foot short. However, Simons still got the majority of the votes. (The last dunk was not scored on a number system).
Simons said he wanted to kiss the rim, but Toppin declined to claim the trophy was stolen.
“I didn’t feel like I was being robbed at all,” Toppin said. Anfernee is a great dunker and got all three of his dunks on the first try. The second and third, I had to do it a second time. If I had it on my first it would have been a different result. I don’t think I’ve been robbed. He deserved that trophy. ”
On his second dunk, Toppin, the former Dayton star, brought out teammate Randle and his own father, known in his heyday as ‘Dunkers Delight’. The duo lined up as Toppin jumped over both, but his missed first try.
Toppin turned on his second attempt, but didn’t get his usual Obi lift either. Out of the five judges, he scored one 10 and four nines.
“It felt great,” said Toppin of his dad’s use. ‘I grew up watching the dunk competition with him. To have Jules there too, the first time he was an All-Star, was a great experience. They didn’t get the result we wanted, but I definitely got the experience I wanted. ”
Simons’ first dunk was his most creative when he rested a ball on a Nerf basket attached to the 10ft rim. Simons got high enough to grab the ball from the edge of the Nerf and hit it against the control ring.
The creativity of Simons’s three dunks may have been a deciding factor, even if the only kiss he got was an air kiss when he hit the ground. The judges were Spud Webb, Josh Smith, Josh Richardson, Dominique Wilkins and Dee Brown.
“Yes, 100 percent,” said Simons. “I’ve tried to get close enough so that I don’t hit the edge with my head too hard. I never actually kissed the edge in practice, but I wanted to commit to it. I wanted to fit a mouthguard, but it didn’t fit. It’s something no one has done. ”
Still not done. But Toppin looked on the bright side – he even met LeBron James.
“I’ve always said LeBron was one man, if I saw him I’d say ‘Wow’,” Toppin said. ‘As soon as I saw him, he came up to me and said,’ What’s up, Obi? ‘I was like,’ Dang, you know my name. ‘ That experience was good.
“The chance for me to be here and have this chance and be on this podium with all the great players, it’s a dream come true. I didn’t take the win, but all three of us had great dunks and it was a great experience. Hopefully we will be back next year. ”