HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — We didn’t kidnap Miss Cleo and force her to share her secrets or anything that sinister, but we can guarantee you that we know the identity of the man that will take home the title at the 2011 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.
It’s going to be one of the men that hung out with us on Episode 42 of the Hang Time Podcast, an unprecedented pool party featuring the past, present and future of slam dunking in the NBA.
Not only did we track down Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, JaVale McGee and Serge Ibaka, we also tapped a couple of dunk contest legends as well. Hall of Famer and two-time (1985 and 1990) slam dunk champion Dominique Wilkins weighs in on all things dunk, as does trailblazer, 1996 champ and NBA TV analyst Brent Barry.
If you want to know the strategies, secrets and all of the tricks of the slam dunk trade, you’ve come to the right place. It’s all here in Episode 42:
COMPLETE PODCAST:
This is just the beginning. We’ll let Griffin, DeRozan, McGee and Ibaka finish this conversation in Los Angeles on Feb. 19 during All-Star Saturday night at the Staples Center. For your listening pleasure, we’ve teased out all the interviews:
DeMar DeRozan:
Blake Griffin:
Dominique Wilkins:
Serge Ibaka:
JaVale McGee:
Brent Barry:
As always, we welcome your feedback. You can follow the entire crew, including the Hang Time Podcast, Lang Whitaker of SLAM Magazine, our super producer Micah Hart of NBA.com’s All Ball Blog and your host Sekou Smith on Twitter.
– To download the podcast, click here. To subscribe via iTunes, click here.
no one spins to the left then dunks someone with the right. sickest dunk ive ever seen!!!!
I still think number 2 is better
I luv the genuine joy & emotion the HT gang express when talking hoops. Their fun & upbeat delivery makes it crystal clear how much they enjoy hoops. But it’s also crystal clear that Sekou is dealing with serious dunk envy – LOL! He practically called Lang out when Lang said he had actually dunked at least once in his life! ROFL (while at work)! I hope they keep up the good work (please).
Ha. I am absolutely envious. It’s the one thing I always wished I’d be able to do, only to realize that it was never going to happen when I topped out at a shade over 5 feet and 7 inches tall.
unless blake hurts himself jumping so high, it’s his.
Go JaVale!
oh my goodness!!!
griffin is beast
blake griffin will win the slam contest, it is secure
the fact that the winner is declared by way of fans’ voting sucks…people usually choose the guy they like the most,not the one with the best performance at the contest
McGee
The only thing I’m waiting for is for Blake to do a double backflip 360 windwill jam in the opening round. This will also count as the final round seeing as that would be so incredible many of the judges heads would explode. Blake FTW
Go Demar, you are sick!!!!!!
BIG BAD BLAKE WILL BE A FINALIST
IBLOCKA WILL SHOW US HIS STUFF
JAVALE WILL BE THE DARKHORSE
DEMAR WILL DEMORALIZE US ALL
HE WILL BE THE WINNER…
COS ALL OF THE 3 ABOVE WERE FRONTCOURT PLAYERS THAT CAN JAM, BUT WILL HAVE NO FLARE OR STYLE..
MAHIHIRAPAN SILA IN FILIPINO.
UNLIKE DEMAR, HE CAN JUMP, FLY AND MAKE SOME STYLE…
BRING ON AMARE AND DWIGHT AND MAKE IT A BIG MAN’S DUNK CONTEST!!!
THAT WOULD BE EXCITING!!!
@IMHER THE POGI – Weh di nga! Ugag!
judging from blake griffin’s highlights, i say it’s his already. not unless he chokes while doing some of his dunks. lol
SERGE IBAKA TAKING
HIS COACH IS KEVIN DURANT
I have a feeling Blake Griffen will win because he is who he is, not because he will have the best dunks. Derozan will have the best dunks, but not win. The NBA wants Griffen to win, they know he can sell more jersys.
Derozan must be respected as he moves with grace and I wonder exactly how much athletic creativity Griffin will muster although he is likely going to demoralize us all (not exactly sure what it means but seems to fit),
Should be a sick event this year and one cannot hate on Serge ‘I block ya’.
“Boom Shakalaka”-NBA Jam
Harper
Blake’s one of the best game dunkers I’ve ever seen but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna win. I think Derozan was hurt last year so I expect he’ll be amazing. Let’s just all pray that the competitions better than last year
Blake Griffin should will be very good if he can play with Stevie Nash!
blake griffin should have a one on one slam dunk contest with lebron james…
no contest! Blake all the way. his dunks are just sick, nasty.
i think demar derozan is going to win the dunk contest because he is athletic and he was in a dunk contest before.
most of blake griffin dunks come from lobs
Sad to say that Blake already has this in the bag, unfair to the others because even if they bring something great to the table, people are too stupid to overlook the overhwelming hype that is blake griffin. Obviously, he deserves all of it because he has been a beast, but people should not be biased to what he has done during the season. Ibaka for example is no where near a good of a player as Griffin, but its possible he is a more creative dunker.
I actually do think DeRozan will win this year considering his experience already and the fact that hes the only wing player, the dunks just look flashier then when youre a big man. Besides what makes Blake’s dunks so special is that he is posterizing people so badly. During the contest, when theres nobody there to dunk on, it won’t look near as good.
Blake is the best!!!
People are all making out like this is a sure thing for Blake, but the winner is more likely to be the most creative person which he may not be.
True say, I think it will come down to Derozan and Griffin in the 2nd round, truthfully I would like to see Derozan winning it, he should have won last years but they gave to Nate Robinson.
WADE NUMBEr one
Tarantado!
Yeah! Blake Griffin is a frontcourt player, but he can dunk with flare and style. BLAKE GRIFFIN 2011 DUNK CHAMPION.
The only way to beat Blake griffin is to dunk from the three point line.
blake the great will dominate the dunk contest..
Bring on your grand ma and grand fa! brazed up together, Blake”The Wolf” is going to turn staple center up side down.
I would like to see Blake win it, but he has some tough competion. I believe that this will be one of the best contests that we have had in YEARS!!! Blake is a monster, many people don’t know that he did his rehab training with the Navy Seals. The kid is just flat out fun to watch!!!
Lakers should take him
think about it…..Koby + Blake Griffin…..and he is allready in
Los Angels – so he can stay in his own place…
LA LAKERS – GO FOR HIM
Blake 2011 is explosive ánd graceful like Vince Carter 2000, so I believe he’ll win it!
Such athletic players are so rare!! The NBA is blessed with this rookie!!
Blake is good and he is agressive but he has no to much style and body control like Derozan. blake can’t play well if Dwight Howard is defending him. he can’t fly so hight with the super-man and he can’t be so strong.
blake griffin is deffently gonna take that dub this year for the dunk contest
No doubt, it’s just a battle between Griffin and DeRozan…
I go for Grifffin!
blake griffin is goin’ to win……and i still hope that one day Lebron is going to be in the contest
II work for DISH Network, and had a new 722 HD DVR installed the Friday before All-Star weekend, and couldn’t be happier! I love the picture quality, and I must have used the “skip back” button 100x during the dunk contest, 20 of those must have been to watch the first “true” free throw line dunk. Someone does this dunk every year, but this year, his foot was behind the line!!! I thought the weekend over all wasn’t that great, predictably LA won all of the awards, but I love the HD and the DVR, and look forward to watching sporting events for years to come.
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