SPRITE DUNK SHOWDOWN BLOG

June 14, 2:37 p.m. ET

The Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown made it's second stop in Texas this summer as NBA Nation dropped its anchor in The Alamo City, San Antonio. As always this time of year the sun was out and the temperatures were high in the Lone Star state but that didn't stop our dunkers and fans from coming out. The dunker turnout was a bit lower than usual...probably due to the scorching heat but we had just enough to make it a great contest with 2 standout competitors. I'm gonna be honest and say that overall San Antonio's talent didn't impress me too much. In fact, our final 4 dunkers are the only ones worth mentioning so we'll start in the semi-final round with my recap. Cut through the fat, ya know??

It was pretty clear from the start who the stars of the Showdown were going to be. We had a past Showdown participant in Golden Child that we knew could bring it, an internet sensation that just recently won the NCAA dunk contest in Jacob Tucker (aka Tuck), and a couple of new faces that represented themselves and their city well in Tripp Lay & Cowboy Slim. These four opened up the contest in the first round with some impressive dunks that the judges and fans enjoyed. It was enough to get them to the semi-final round where only the strong survive. This is usually the round that separates the men from the boys and that's exactly what happened as both Golden Child and Tuck had way too much in their arsenal to contend with. That's not to say that Cowboy Slim and Tripp Lay didn't have some nice dunks because they did. Tripp went over one of our Sprite ball racks which is not an easy feat and Cowboy Slim jumped over one of our benches. We appreciate the effort fellas but unfortunately it wasn't enough this time around.

So the final round rolled around and it would be a battle between Tuck and Golden Child. This is the round where winning the crowd over gets more important because the fans would help decide who wins by texting in votes for their favorite dunker. Tuck got things started in the finals with a sweet double pump 360 dunk that undoubtedly would have received a perfect score but in this round the judges don't score. Instead they would choose their favorite after the finals just like the fans do. Either way Tuck was on the board first and he set the bar high for Golden Child. GC shot back with an impressive through-the-legs-over-a-dude dunk that went down with power. After one dunk it was even. On his second dunk Golden Child attempted a 360-through-the-legs-reverse-spin dunk but after a few tries he couldn't get it. Time was running out so he had to resort to his backup dunk which was impressive but not as much as the other would have been. With the final dunk of the contest Tuck went over 3 people and threw down a monster dunk that got the crowd off its feet and possibly swung their votes his way. It was a great finals to watch and even though Golden Child received 3 of the 4 judges votes it would be the fan vote that would give Tuck the win in a hotly contested matchup. Congrats Tuck and maybe we'll see you in the finals!!

Thanks to all the dunkers and fans that came out. Don't forget to check out www.nba.com/dunk for pics and video of the San Antonio Showdown!!

We're headed to New York City, home of some of the best dunkers in the world. We'll see what we get come next Saturday.

-Mike G

June 3, 2011, 9:04 a.m. ET

After a week off, the NBA Nation crew headed to Atlanta along with the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown looking for the best dunker in the area not already wearing a Hawks jersey. In years past, Hotlanta has shown us some pretty impressive dunkers but each year the Showdown steps up its game so only time would tell if they could step up with it.

We had a special treat in store for all the dunkers and fans as we had two NBA legends and icons of dunking serving as judges for this contest. First we had the official NBA Nation Ambassador Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins in attendance. He was always known for his big personality and powerful, backboard shattering dunks so who better to help judge that in other dunkers. As if that wasn't enough, we also were lucky enough to have Hall of Famer and one of the top three dunkers of all-time (in my opinion) Dominique Wilkins. Nique was not only a great game dunker but his skills also helped him win 2 NBA Slam Dunk titles and he probably should have two more. Joining our legends as judges were Sprite All-Stars Reemix & Los.

The first round got off to a shaky start as you could tell there were nerves taking over some of our competitors. I mean who wouldn't be nervous with two legends judging you. That's like trying to sing and dance in front of Michael Jackson!! The early scores were low as the judges established that they were gonna be tough. Some early bright spots were dunks by returning Showdown dunkers Rude Boi, Slam, and Red, who at 30 was our oldest competitor. Age don't mean a thing unless you can't get off the ground but that definitely wasn't Red's problem.

Once again though the cream of the crop rose to the top from the start as early fan and judge favorites JC, Reid $, and Stang-Jumper showed their skills off in the first and second rounds. It would be these three, along with Slam that would advance to our semi-final round. Our final four dunkers had their work cutout for them as the judges were obviously holding our competitors to a very high standard. In fact it wasn't until late in the second round that we even had our first perfect score of 40 put up. Not sure that's ever happened before.

The semi-final round is where most dunkers pull out their best stuff and this time around was no different. We had dunks over other dunkers, over ball racks, and tosses from behind the basket and even from the crowd. When the dust settled and the rims stopped shaking it was Reid $ and JC that would be advancing the finals of the Showdown.

Each dunker would then have two dunks to impress our judges but in the finals the fans would have their say as well by texting in votes for their favorite dunker of the day. The cell phones came out and votes were sent in as both of our finalist put on a show that would make it a difficult decision for the fans and judges. After two solid dunks by Reid $, JC closed out the contest with a through-the-legs-over-a-person dunk that made that decision much easier to make. All four judges chose JC as their favorite and the fans followed suit with their text votes giving him the win and a check for $1,000!!

A big thanks to Darryl and Dominique for making this a very memorable day for not only the dunkers and fans but for all of us that are part of NBA Nation and the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown. I only wish you could all have been there to hear the conversation they were having all during the contest. Priceless...and just another reason I love my job and feel so lucky to have it.

If you are interested in winning some cool prizes, check out the Sprite Spark Your Game contest.

We're off to the home of the Eastern Conference Champion Heat as the Showdown hits Miami and the Goombay Festival this weekend! See you there...

-Mike G

May 24, 2011, 11:01 a.m. ET

HOTLANTA SHOWDOWN

After a week off, the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown is back this weekend and we hit Atlanta as we continue our search for the best dunker in North America not wearing an NBA jersey. The time off was nice but the NBA Nation crew is ready to get back to work.

Don't worry though, our recruiting team (Sprite All-Star Reemix, Caution, and Fred) have been in the ATL for a few days already trying to get a sneak peak at what type of talent the city has to offer. So far so good! We have word that we'll be seeing some familiar faces Saturday including Willie Barnes who previously won the Showdown in DC, Shane "Slam" Wise who competed and put on a show a couple years ago in Dallas, and Troy "Rude Boi" McCray who toured as a Sprite All-Star in 2009. That's 3 big names in the dunking game and the only place you can see them all is at NBA Nation this Saturday. I'm sure we'll also get to know some talented, new high-flyers that take their shot at $1,000 and the title of Best Amateur Dunker in Atlanta!

As if that wasn't enough we'll have two dunking legends serving on our celebrity panel of judges as Dominique Wilkins and Darryl Dawkins join us. Dominique is probably one the best 3 dunkers to ever hit the hardwood. His in-game dunking exploits are legend and his contest resume speaks for itself as he owns 2 NBA Slam Dunk Contest trophies. He's also served as a judge in that contest, most recently at NBA All-Star 2011 as he watched Blake Griffin stake his claim as the best dunker in the game today.

While Darryl Dawkins owns no Slam Dunk contest titles, he does own one of the biggest personalities on this planet to go along with his illustrious career in the NBA. Known as "Chocolate Thunder", Darryl was known as a player that took delight in dunking on other players. And the bigger the better. Once that got old he decided to start breaking backboards with his ultra-powerful tomahawk dunks. We're all honored and really excited to have these two legends as part of the Atlanta Showdown.

If you are interested in winning some cool prizes, check out the Sprite Spark Your Game contest.

That's it. All that's left is for you to be there Saturday for one of the best dunk contests you'll ever see. Plus, there's a pretty good chance you'll get some free Sprite!! See you there.

-Mike G

May 18, 2011, 11:15 a.m. ET

Every time the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown comes to Los Angeles expectations are high because of the dunkers that we've seen in previous contests here. That includes last year's Showdown Grand Champion Young Hollywood. This year's cast of dunkers also included another finalist from last year, as Dunk Inventor made a trip from Phoenix in order to start his run at the 2011 title. He was joined by a stellar list of dunkers all with their eyes set on the $1000 prize for winning the LA contest.

It was a tough go early on as the dunkers were having trouble getting the ball in the hoop and the judges were establishing that it was going to take some out of the ordinary dunks to get high scores. This time around it was Sprite All-Stars Los & Reemix, LA Times writer Mark Medina, and NBA legend AC Green that would be scoring our dunkers.

The Showdown picked up late in the first round as the first perfect 40 of the day hit the board. It was the result of a powerful-windmill-off-a-man-holding-the-ball dunk that got the crowd off its' feet and brought 10s from each of our judges. Exile was easily one of the early favorites, along with standouts G Smith, Jay, and the previously mentioned Dunk Inventor.

All four of these dunkers would continue their strong showing all the way the the quarter-finals, where the final four would battle it out for the two finals spots. Exile surprised the fans and judges by not completing a dunk in the allotted two minutes, which all but eliminated him from the competition even with one more dunk remaining. Jay was able to grab a decent score on his first dunk of the round but could not finish on his second attempt receiving a 0 which took him out of contention. That left two dunkers from Phoenix, Dunk Inventor and G Smith, and both still had plenty left in the tank.

Both men went back and forth with 40s on each of their dunks in this round. Dunk Inventor went over-4-people-and-through-the-legs...G Smith followed with an off-the-side-of-the-backboard-dunk that would have made Blake Griffin proud...and the battle continued all the way through the finals.

In the final round the fans would help the judges choose the winner by texting in votes for their favorite dunker. Each judge would also choose a favorite after the finals and then we'd have our winner. Dunk Inventor got things started with an over-the-Sprite-barricade for his first dunk of the finals. G Smith had a little hiccup on his first try as his attempts at a dunk off a toss proved unsuccessful and after the two minutes expired he was left with a lost opportunity to match Dunk Inventor. G Smith came back for his second dunk and served up a very nice 360 dunk to cap off his performance...but would it be enough??

The boys from Phoenix put on a show but in the end Dunk Inventor's long list of powerful and creative dunks were too much for G Smith on this day as both the crowd and judges awarded him the win, his 2nd in two years and keeps his hopes of repeating as a finalist alive. Keep an eye out for G Smith though because he could easily be one of the dunkers chosen from the online submissions. Then again, it could also be you!! To get more information on how you can qualify for the Showdown Championship go to www.nba.com/dunk

Congrats to Kenny Dobbs, aka Dunk Inventor on his victory and good luck the rest of the way. Thanks to all the dunkers, our fans, and each of our judges for making our LA stop one of the best...once again!

If you are interested in winning some cool prizes, check out the Sprite Spark Your Game contest.

-Mike G

May 12, 2011, 8:20 a.m. ET

THE MILE HIGH CITY DELIVERS!

I'm going to make a bold statement to start this blog post. Get ready...

The Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown in Denver this past weekend might be the best we've ever had on the NBA Nation tour!!

Early on, it looked like nerves took over for a few of the dunkers as quite a few of them had a hard time just getting a dunk down in the first round...but I guess that's why we have rounds in the first place.

It was obvious from the start of the contest which dunkers were out to win it. Coming out strong in the first round is important to not only get good scores but also to get the crowd on your side. One of the guys that figured that out was last year's winner of the SSDS in Denver, Silky Smooth, who was going for the repeat. Also coming out of the gates with some strong dunks were Derek, Josh K, Gordy, and Kasper. In fact, Kasper was the first to electrify the crowd with a perfect 40 on his first attempt of the contest. It was a crazy 360 windmill that finished with some impressive power!! This kid was for real and definitely someone that the crowd got behind throughout the contest.

One of the surprises of the early rounds was Josh K, the smallest dunker in the contest and originally from Nigeria. He's one of those dunkers that just attacks the rim like it owed him money!! If I had to guess, his vertical had to be close to 48 inches or so. Someone with those types of dunking skills needed a nickname so I decided to label him "Air Nigeria", and that name stuck till the end. We'll see if he continues to use it. If so, don't forget where it came from Josh.

In my mind this Showdown started in the semi-finals. We saw a battle like we've never seen before as early favorites Air Nigeria and Kasper, along with Derek and Gordy, gave the crowd and our judges quite a few dunks that brought them off their feet. Derek had a nice mix of athleticism and style and he showed both off with his first dunk of the round throwing the ball off of the Denver Public Library building, catching it off one bounce, and throwing it down clean. No need to even add up scores after that one because you know a 40 when you see it!! Unfortunately a thumb injury slowed him down on his final dunk which allowed the other dunkers to take advantage. Kasper continued his antics with a through-the-legs-over-a-human dunk that received yet another perfect 40 for him and Air Nigeria pulled out a powerful windmill dunk off a toss that got him another 40, as well. After the scores were added up it would be Kasper and Air Nigeria that would go head to head for the title.

At this point, fans would have the chance to influence the outcome by texting in votes for their favorite dunker. This would be added to the final round score and that's how the winner would be chosen. Air Nigeria had a little problem getting a dunk down on his first attempt and he received a 0 for that but his second dunk almost made up for it. He went high over a Sprite ball rack with plenty of room to spare. That was one of the most impressive of the day and we have a pic of it on the NBA Nation page. Go check it out!! Kasper still had something up his sleeve for the final round. His 2 dunks consisted of a monster-tomohawk-jam-over-a-dude and a reverse-bring-the-ball-down-to-his-toes dunk that would have made even Dominique Wilkins proud. These two dunks, along with his previous round performance and his personality kept the crowd and the judges behind him and he was chosen as the 2011 Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown: Denver Champion! He was awarded a check for $1000 from Official NBA Nation Ambassador and dunk legend Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins and he now has a chance to take part in the SSDS Championship, where our ultimate winner will walk away with $10,000!!

We're off to Los Angeles where we've found some great dunkers in the past, including last year's champion Young Hollywood. That's a lot to measure up to but I'm sure LA will step up again.

Since NBA Nation and the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown will be in LA that means I get to be home for a couple weeks before our next stop. But I can't wait for the weekend. I'll have a preview coming up later this week.

If you are interested in winning some cool prizes, check out the Sprite Spark Your Game contest.

As Darryl Dawkins would say, "Hot ham and cheese, it's just gettin started!".

-Mike G

* * *

May 6, 2011, 9:23 a.m. ET

The Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown is back and what better place to start than Houston, TX, a city that knows a thing or two about sending things into the sky. This past Saturday, our quest was to find the city's best amateur dunker. After the Texas sun set and the dust had settled, I think we accomplished that goal. The first two rounds of the contest had some nice moments and some very impressive dunks, but it came down to a final four battle between dunkers KB, Lightfoot, Dunkzilla, and Sir Isaac, the runner up from last year's stop in Dallas, TX.

In the early rounds it was up to our expert panel of judges to score each dunk and decide who would advance through each round. The judges included: NBA legend Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins, Sprite All-Stars Reemix & Los, and Steve "Scoobs" Lichtenberger. Throughout the contest, the judges were very tough to impress, as we only saw a few perfect 40s given to our dunkers. However, in the final round fans would help decide the winner by texting in votes for their favorite dunker.

The semi-final round was where the action got serious. Dunkzilla and Lightfoot represented and showed that both the power and creativity to hang. But, it was Sir Isaac and KB that showed they were the class of the Houston contest, both advancing to the final round.

Once the votes were tabulated, Houston native KB was awarded the win, along with a check for $1000 & and a video camera! Great way to kick off our first Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown of the summer! Don't forget you still have a chance to make it to the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown Championship! All you have to do is upload a video of some of your best dunks to nba.com/dunk. After NBA Nation has wrapped up, a select group of expert panelists will choose which online dunkers have what it takes to compete in the Showdown Championship.

Special Thanks to all the Houston fans that came out to watch and sent in their votes, the NBA Nation Crew for everything they do, and all of our judges, especially Chocolate Thunder!

If you are interested in winning some cool prizes, check out the Sprite Spark Your Game contest.

The Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown will be in Denver next weekend and we're expecting some great mile high dunking.

If you're on Twitter, you can find the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown @SpriteShowdown, NBA Nation @NBANation, and me @The_Michael_G

Remember...you either dunk on life or it dunks on you.

-Mike G

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