JAMISON JOINS TARHEEL ROYALTY - WINS SLAM DUNK CONTEST
By 'The X'
NLSC Insider
Updated: Feb. 17, 2006, 11.59 PM ET --
A Frozen Moment In Time:
Jamison tosses the ball off the camera crane, raises up, grabs the ball out of mid-air & swiftly puts it through the legs & finishes with a windmill jam. Perfect 50. One of the great dunks of All-Time. Competition Over.
Washington forward Antawn Jamison, considered by most as having no chance, capped an unthinkable sequence of slams and jams to take the title over Portland forward Travis Outlaw in the final with a score of 99-82 to win the 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
Much like Tarheel legends, MJ & Vinsanity, Antawn Jamison used innovation & creativity to take the title
Here's a quick recap of how Antawn ended the night lifting the silverware:
Former Portland great, Clyde "The Glide" Drexler, was in force judging the competition. With progidy Travis Outlaw in the contest, would favourtism rule the day?
Round 1:
The opening round saw 3 guys who wanted to win and 1 guy who was not happy about being snubbed for All-Star Game. Travis Outlaw set the stage early with a perfect 50, but was matched by Antawn Jamison and Kenyon Dooling who showed they could rise with the best of them. Stoudemire was a real disappointment as he failed to show any creativity on his way to a 36.
Kenyon's flair showed through on the night & was unlucky not to advance to Finals. They scored 50, 34, 50, 50 respectively for these dunks
With their 2nd and final dunk of the opening round, Travis Outlaw opened up with another perfect 50 as he layed down a beautiful and creative dunk (shown below). Amare Stoudemire once again failed to even garner interest from the crowd as he scored a 38 to be demoralised in the competition. Next up was Antawn Jamison, who pulled out a 50 with a nice dunk. Sure it was nice, but it was a little bit of a stretch at 50. Finally, the Magic's Keyon Dooling needed a perfect 50 to force a play-off for the final. Unfortunately for Kenyon, who thought he had done enough after a toss and reverse 180 windmill slam, he only scored 49 points, and fell agonizingly short, as he failed to qualify for the Finals by 1 point.
This had to be Travis' dunk of the night: Back heelflip toss to 180 reverse catch in mid-air, to a reverse, fully pumped up tomahawk jam. Perfect 50, nothing less.
Final Round:
The Final Round matted the exhuberant youth of Blazers' forward Travis Outlaw with the more experienced and wiliness of Wizards' forward Antawn Jamison. Jamison opened up the Finals with what might be considered one of the great dunks of All-Time. Jamison really set the precedent with this dunk. Not only did he make a crazy toss, but he went through the legs. It was a stunner and it was no surprise when the judges raised perfect 10's across the board. It was even enough to keep my eyes off Deron's Mrs. for the rest of the night.
Dunk of the Night. Perfect 50. Nothing but love for this sick throwdown.
The dunk must have really rattled the youngster Outlaw, as on his 1st dunk of the Finals, Outlaw missed a complicated toss. Despite the fact that he still had about 20 seconds left to reset the dunk, Outlaw went with a simple toss off the backboard with a plain, 2-handed jam to finish it. The crowd was disappointed with that effort. After such a great opening round, it seemed like Outlaw was mailing it in, much like his team does nightly. Outlaw only scored a measly 36 points which meant that outside of a Chris Andersen-like series of events, Antawn Jamison would win the title.
On his final dunk, Antawn Jamison didn't do what many might have thought and play it safe, and for that, I applaud him as it took some iron balls to attempt what he did. Jamison kicked the ball with his right quadricep and it rebounded off the backboard. Jamison seemed to be out of position for the rebound, but he stretched out his left hand as far as he could and somehow held onto it and once he steadied slightly, he threw it down with such ferocity and force that the whole arena 'felt' it. Surprisingly, Jamison 'only' got a 49 for the dunk as Drexler only lifted a scorecard showing a 9. Either way, with an insurmountable score of 99, Antawn Jamison was the new Slam Dunk Champion.
The dunk that sealed it for Antawn. Check out that extension as he barely holds onto the rock. A fantastic way to end the competition.
Despite the competition being over, there was still the formality of Travis Outlaw's final dunk, where he was probably hoping to restore some pride after his dismal 1st dunk. Whilst it wasn't his best of the night, a final dunk that netted him 46, and earned him a few cheers was a satisfactory end to the night.
Much like his other dunks, Outlaw used a creative over-the-shoulder toss off the backboard to a hard, reverse 180 tomahawk slam. Good for 46 & a little bit of pride restored.
So there you have it folks, that's how Antawn Jamison got it done. I can't help but think if Magic guard Kenyon Dooling had of got more favourable scores, that he could have got up. But then again, after seeing those last couple of dunks that Antawn finished with, it really wouldn't have mattered.
That completes All-Star Saturday. I hope you enjoyed it and please check in tomorrow as I recap the main event, the 2006 NBA All-Star Game.