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Guide to Will Barton Winning the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest

By Jack Malloy

Jan 28, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Will Barton (5) dunks the ball as Washington Wizards forward Jared Dudley (1) looks on in the first quarter at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Will Barton (5) dunks the ball as Washington Wizards forward Jared Dudley (1) looks on in the first quarter at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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3. Darvin Ham

The 1997 dunk contest in Cleveland was the coming out party for the rookie, Kobe Bryant. At 18 years old and the knees of a Greek god, the future generation trendsetter had this thing in the bag.

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    • Ham, who ended up only playing in about 30 percent of the games for the Nuggets in the rookie season of his own before getting shipped off to Indiana, still represented his short time in the Denver by rockin’ the dunk contest.

    Ham had all the potential to make a run at this competition, but his technique really killed him. He had the perfect build up with his quotes before the competition. He said he had no game plan heading in, but he was going to see what dunks other people do…and do them better. Confidence baby, confidence.

    He came out with a nice power windmill and then followed it up right away with a one handed double pump reverse. These were great dunks, but he did them within the first 30 seconds.

    Instead of waiting to get the crowd hyped, he went right back in for his third and final dunk which landed a 360 while hitting his left hand at the top of the square before finishing it out. A super technical dunk, but doesn’t have the live motion flash that other have.

    The lessons for Will Barton: 1) Take your time, let the suspense build and the crowd play into it. 2) Some of the hardest dunks won’t get their credit due if they don’t play to the crowd. Make it flashy, not fancy.

    Next: 2. Robert Pack

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