After Jayson Tatum won the Skills Challenge and Joe Harris beat Stephen Curry in the 3-point competition, four of the best dunkers in the NBA took center stage in Charlotte for the 2019 Dunk Contest – and fans watching from home weren’t exactly thrilled with the judges’ scores.
Atlanta big man John Collins was the first dunker to go, and he grabbed the backboard as he soared in from the baseline for a dunk that only earned scores of 8 across the board.
Moments later Oklahoma City’s Hamidou Diallo had Russell Westbrook throw him a pass off the side of the backboard and threw down a windmill that earned three perfect 10s. Diallo scored 48 on the dunk overall to vault into the lead.
New York’s Dennis Smith Jr. planned a dunk that should have put up the highest score of the round – but he simply couldn’t put it down. On Smith’s first attempt, he only caught the ball in the air and didn’t try to throw it down. He then proceeded to miss three consecutive attempts before finally completing the dunk.
Even though Smith took multiple attempts, he passed Collins on the scoreboard with a 45.
Later on in the finals, Smith Jr. earned a perfect 50 for jumping over Dwyane Wade, even though he needed multiple attempts to complete the dunk. Even the commentary crew couldn’t believe it.
