After winning the 2019 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Saturday night, Thunder rookie Hamidou Diallo revealed afterward that he would have done it a little differently if it were up to him.
Diallo earned a perfect score of 50 from the panel of judges after he jumped over the 7-foot-1 Shaquille O’Neal during his second dunk of the night, a dunk that helped send him to the championship round against Dennis Smith Jr.
For his final act, Diallo called upon Quavo from Migos to assist him. Diallo placed Quavo just under the basketball and requested that he hold a basketball above his head. Diallo then jumped over Quavo, grabbed the ball and threw it down.
The dunk helped seal the win for Diallo.
If it were up to Diallo, though, he would have jumped over Dwyane Wade instead. Just before his last dunk attempt, Smith brought up Wade from his courtside seats to lend a hand during his dunk as Smith eventually jumped over the Miami Heat guard.
I would say it was great. It was great. I mean, Dennis stole my third dunk. I was going to use D-Wade last and just try to do a little thing for one last dance. That was my favorite player growing up. But it still worked out for the best. Shout out to DWade. He knows what’s up.
The event for Diallo proved to be a coming out party of sorts as he sent social media into a frenzy following his performance. While he didn’t have the opportunity to jump over Wade, it was still impressive that he got up over Shaq and Quavo.
There’s always next year…
Quote courtesy of NBA PR
