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I know, All Star weekends are just full of glitz and glamour. The big name players don't want to try that hard. But one thing the NBA weekend brings is the slam dunk competition, though it's been down as of late. Yesterday, however, featured some rather creative dunks.
J.R. Smith of the New Orleans Hornets started out with a bang, doing an amazing flip-the-ball-behind-the-back dunk. Very new and refreshing. Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks, a nineteen year old rookie, did the Dr. J free throw line dunk, though not quite as spectacular. Chris Anderson sucked it up. Amare Stoudamire began with a nice put the ball between the legs dunk, a tough one for a big man to do.
Then came the team dunks. Josh Smith brought the house down with a scintillating tomahawk after he jumped just to the side of Kenyon Martin to catch a ball that Martin tossed straight up. Martin was sitting down in a chair in front of the basket (replays show Smith's sneakers flying right by Martin's head). Stoudamire threw the ball off the backboard, then Steve Nash headed the ball like a soccer ball on an alley oop which Stoudamire slammed down on a reverse 360 much to the crowd's delight.
Josh Smith easily took down Stoudamire in the finals. With a sense of history, Smith put on a retro Dominique Wilkins jersey before throwing down one of Wilkins' signature windmill slams. It looks simple at first, until you watch it in slow motion. While bringing the ball up in windmill fashion, Smith bends his knees so that his shins are parallel to the ground at the height of his jump. As he is dunking it, he gracefully straightens out. Ridiculous.
Smith finished off with his third perfect dunk of the night by doing a reverse 360 spin slam. And so a star was born.
J.R. Smith of the New Orleans Hornets started out with a bang, doing an amazing flip-the-ball-behind-the-back dunk. Very new and refreshing. Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks, a nineteen year old rookie, did the Dr. J free throw line dunk, though not quite as spectacular. Chris Anderson sucked it up. Amare Stoudamire began with a nice put the ball between the legs dunk, a tough one for a big man to do.
Then came the team dunks. Josh Smith brought the house down with a scintillating tomahawk after he jumped just to the side of Kenyon Martin to catch a ball that Martin tossed straight up. Martin was sitting down in a chair in front of the basket (replays show Smith's sneakers flying right by Martin's head). Stoudamire threw the ball off the backboard, then Steve Nash headed the ball like a soccer ball on an alley oop which Stoudamire slammed down on a reverse 360 much to the crowd's delight.
Josh Smith easily took down Stoudamire in the finals. With a sense of history, Smith put on a retro Dominique Wilkins jersey before throwing down one of Wilkins' signature windmill slams. It looks simple at first, until you watch it in slow motion. While bringing the ball up in windmill fashion, Smith bends his knees so that his shins are parallel to the ground at the height of his jump. As he is dunking it, he gracefully straightens out. Ridiculous.
Smith finished off with his third perfect dunk of the night by doing a reverse 360 spin slam. And so a star was born.
