As a whole, the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest ended Saturday’s festivities on a bit of a low note.
The four-man field of Warriors forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin, Houston Rockets wing Jalen Green and Orlando Magic Cole Anthony wasn’t heralded coming in. In an event that’s been marked with legendary performances by players like Dominique Wilkins, Vince Carter and Jason Richardson, the 2022 version was a dud.
At least Dub Nation got to see JTA advance to the finals, where he lost to Toppin, the eventual champion.
Before his first attempt, Toscano-Anderson got judge Julius “Dr. J” Irving to sign a ball, before pulling All-Star teammate Andrew Wiggins out to the floor. JTA leaped over Wiggins’ head (using his shoulder as a bit of a prop for his left hand) before throwing down a mean windmill dunk on his first attempt for a score of 44 out of 50.
That ended up being his best dunk of the night.
For his second try, Toscano-Anderson went with a 360 windmill. Nice, but nothing we haven’t seen before.
After making it to the final round vs. Toppin, JTA tried to throw it back to 2000 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, when Carter threw down an infamous dunk and stayed hanging on the rim by using his elbow. Toscano-Anderson couldn’t get quite enough lift to pull it off.
As JTA alluded to earlier in the week, his routine would feature Warriors nostalgia. He donned a Richardson jersey in a nod to the 2002 and 2003 Slam Dunk champ but couldn’t throw one down. Afterwards, JTA looked flustered on the bench as he knew the title was Toppin’s.
Still, it was a memorable night for Toscano-Anderson, who also repped his Mexican heritage with a custom jersey and kicks.
Not bad for a kid who grew up dunking on milk crates at his grandfather's house in Deep East Oakland. During the evening, JTA got some support from Steph Curry sitting courtside and others online like Damion Lee and Jonathan Kuminga.
The weekend will wrap up with Sunday's All-Star Game, which will feature Curry starting for Team LeBron and Wiggins starting for Team Durant. Draymond Green will be part of TBS' alternate broadcast featuring the "Inside the NBA" crew -- Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith.
