All-Star 2014: John Wall shines, East beats West
By Hiroki Witt
Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
H-Bomb here. Tonight I’m bringing you full coverage of the Slam Dunk Contest. The competitors for the East are Terrence Ross, John Wall, and Paul George. For the West it is Damian Lillard, Harrison Barnes, and Ben McLemore. The amount of Sprite advertisement is really over-the-top. Let’s get this show on the road.
** Note: I’m not the best with the names of these dunks, so I’m just trying to give an idea of what it looks like when I name them.**
ROUND 1: Freestyle Round
East: Terrence Ross, Paul George, John Wall
– This freestyle format is so weird. It’s so hard to report on. The best dunk of the round was a Ross off the backboard to Wall off the SHOT-CLOCK to George for a TOMAHAWK, which was SCHWEET.
West: Lillard, McLemore, Barnes
– Damian Lillard with a sick between-the-legs dunk was the highlight of this round. Barnes also had a nice windmill, and that’s about it.
Apparently the winner of this round gets to “call the shots” for the battle round. The East wins by unanimous vote from the judges (Dominique Wilkins, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving).
ROUND 2: Battle Round
Since the East won, they chose to go second in the battle round. “Interesting strategy”, notes Nick Cannon.
Damian Lillard:
Lillard tries a reverse but misses. Converts on a nice toss to himself into a single-pump 360.
Terrence Ross:
Oh gawd Drake is on the court. Ross takes it from him but fails on a between-the-legs. Tries again the same one, but misses off the backboard. One more try and he converts, nice dunk.
Wilkins votes for Ross, Johnson votes for Lillard, and Erving votes for Ross.
WINNER: Terrence Ross
LOSER: Damian Lillard
Harrison Barnes and Paul George up next:
Harrison Barnes:
– tries a clutch-into a windmill, and misses. Tries it again, misses again. One more time, and he converts. Not the most impressive showing.
Paul George:
– tries a 360 between-the-legs, but fails. Tries again, fails again. The third time isn’t the charm either. However, on his last try, he converts! Nice between-the-legs 360 from George.
Wilkins, Johnson, and Erving all vote for George. The East holds a 2 – 0 lead in the Battle round.
WINNER: Paul George
LOSER: Harrison Barnes
Ben McLemore vs…OHMYGAWD HE’S COMING OUT WITH A KINGS ROBEE WITH A GUY LIKE A COURT JESTER AND THE JESTER DOES A SWEET SPEECH. SHAQ IS THERE ALSO.
I REPEAT, MCLEMORE DRESSED IN A KING’S ROBE.
“THE REALM OF SHAQ-RAMENTO” THE JESTER SAYS!
SHAQ-LEMORE JERSEY!
I HAVE NO WORDS.
TRIES A DUNK OVER SHAQ ON A GOLDEN THRONE AND HE MISSES. TRIES IT AGAIN AND HE MAKES IT!!! SHAQ PUTS A CROWN ON MCLEMORE!
THIS DUNK CONTEST IS OFFICIALLY AWESOME.
John Wall:
G-man is underneath the hoop, holding the ball over his head. JOHN WALL LEAPFROGS HIM, PUMPS IT, AND PUTS IT IN ON A REVERSE! Sweet dunk, the announcers think McLemore is done!
Wilkins, Johnson, and Erving all vote for Wall. Personally, I liked McLemore’s more. Proud citizen of Shaq-ramento right here.
WINNER: John Wall
LOSER: Ben McLemore
So with 3 wins in the battle round, the East wins it. John Wall wins “slam dunker of the night”.
WINNER: EASTERN CONFERENCE.
Personally, this dunk contest seemed a little flat to me. I know I went crazy with the McLemore dunk, but, that was just some in-the-moment joy. I really didn’t like this new format; I liked it more when there was a singular “winner”, rather than a team winner, and a “slam dunker of the night”; the current format made it seem like it just kind of ended all of a sudden. I liked the McLemore thing, but the creativity also seemed a bit lacking to me as well. Some good moments, but could have been better.