NEW ORLEANS – Glenn Robinson III is the NBA’s new dunk king, with an assist to Indiana teammate Paul George, the Pacers’ mascot and a Pacers cheerleader.
Robinson leaped over all three, snagging the ball from George along the way before finishing with an emphatic, two-hand, reverse jam, giving him a perfect score – and the title – on his final dunk.
“I know I’m a jumper. Like I said, I’m a guy that stays out of the way, but when it’s time to shine, that’s my thing,” Robinson said. “I knew all along I had some things planned and I just wanted to show the world.”
Robinson edged out Phoenix’s Derrick Jones Jr., who was done in by his failure to complete his difficult first dunk of two in the final round.
Jones still managed a perfect score on his second dunk, when he received a bounce-pass in the paint, put it between his legs and threw down a left-handed jam. But Robinson made sure it wasn’t enough.
In the 3-point contest, Houston’s Eric Gordon dethroned Golden State splash brother Klay Thompson. Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks won the Skills Challenge.
Both dunk finalists delighted the crowd with soaring slams over teammates and others that showcased the explosive spring in their vertical leaps.
Robinson’s first dunk was one of his best. He leap-frogged one man sitting on another’s shoulders, grabbed the ball from the elevated man’s hands and slammed it home. He said 2000 dunk champ Vince Carter was one of his primary influences, along with Michael Jordan, of course.
Gordon, meanwhile, got his win in New Orleans, where he played the previous five seasons before leaving last summer in free agency.
Gordon’s score of 21 in a final-round tiebreaker defeated Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, the 2013 winner who had 18. The pair had each finished with a score of 20 in the final round, meaning they each had to shoot 25 more balls to decide it.
“I wasn’t really concentrating on how many I made,” Gordon said. “It’s all about just knocking down the shot. I never counted in my head or anything. I just go out there and just shoot the ball.”
Thompson was stunningly eliminated in the first round.