Washington Wizards All-Star guard John Wall was named dunker of the night and helped the East team sweep their West counterparts in the revamped All-Star slam dunk contest, the highlight of the All Star Saturday showcase.
Wall’s final dunk saw him taking the ball from Wizards mascot G-Man who held it above his head, double pumping in midair before slamming it down with a reverse dunk. His team, the East All-Stars composed of Paul George of the Indiana Pacers and Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors, swept the West consisting of Sacramento Kings’ Ben McLemore, Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and Golden State Warriors’ Harrison Barnes.
After the contest, Wall revealed that he took the idea from watching a YouTube video of dunks that had never been done in the slam dunk contest. He told ESPN: "There's some ideas out there. It's just the dunks are very hard to do. You've just got to trust yourself to go out there and try, and try to master it."
Wall’s dunk came after McLemore brought the house down with his own aerial showcase, leaping over NBA legend Shaquille O’ Neal who was seated in a king’s throne. McLemore completed his dunk on the second try, and O’Neal presented him with a crown afterwards.
The contest was totally revamped, with the league breaking it into two parts. The first was the freestyle portion where teams had a minute and a half to perform as many dunks as they can, and the second part was a head-to-head format. The East won both portions.
"The slam dunk has returned," said judge Julius Erving, one of the NBA's greatest dunkers.
In the other events of All Star Saturday, San Antonio Spurs guard Marco Bellinelli won the three-point shootout while the team of Lillard and Utah’s Trey Burke won the Skills challenge.
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