Guide to Will Barton Winning the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest
By Jack Malloy
1. J.R. Smith
Smith was the best dunker in this contest. In fact, J.R. Smith is the best dunker of all the Nuggets players in the contest’s history. Facing off against Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson, and Rudy Fernandez, it was show vs. the real dunker.
Nate Robinson had the flash of the little man with the big hops and Dwight was the showman of showman. Still J.R. had the potential to put all that away, but just couldn’t make it happen.
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He started off with an incredible toss and two bounce windmill. Smith has the skill that Zach LaVine has right now where he looks incredible at full speed and then floats through the air in slow motion. Those are the highlights that resonate with the judges and the fans.
Nabbing a 43 on that first dunk, he brought in Sonny Weems to help him deliver on a second dunk. If he could have pulled it off, it would have been a behind the back one handed reverse and a sure 50.
Unfortunately, it was a little out of his reach and he switched to a different dunk that didn’t have the same fervor and still took four attempts. He missed the finals by two points.
Will Barton can take a ton out of J.R. Smith’s performance. The style is so important for him to look good in all aspects of the dunk, but he can only get creative enough on dunks that he can for sure hit on the first try. Misses gasp all the wind out of the crowd and out of the hype. He’s got to throw it down on the first try.
Time for him to make it happen.