Russell Westbrook Talks Dunk Contest
By now, we’ve all gotten used to seeing Russell Westbrook take flight for soaring dunks like the one he had Sunday night at Houston. They’ve left us in awe and made us salivate over the possibility of the Thunder’s point guard one day participating in the slam dunk contest.
The NBA has asked Westbrook to be a participant in this year’s contest. Westbrook said he’s politely declined. But Westbrook could change his mind since he’s likely to be in L.A. for the 60th All-Star Game anyway.
But here’s why Westbrook is hesitant. He just doesn’t see himself as a dunk contest type of dunker.
“I don’t really have trick dunks and all that,” Westbrook said. “I just like games. The dunk contest is totally different from what it used to be. You got to do a lot of different stuff to get points. You got to flip and bring out a lot of different (stunts) to get some points.”
Westbrook had an opportunity to be in the contest as a rookie during the 2009 All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. But fans voted in Rudy Fernandez as the final participant over Westbrook and Joe Alexander. And Fernandez supplied a largely forgettable performance.
“I was willing to do it then,” Westbrook said. “One of these years I’m going to be in it. I just don’t know if it’s going to be this year. But I will be.”
-DM-
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Comments
ahhhh, Russ!! say it ain’t so!! i’ve been waiting for him to be in the dunk contest the past two years! he’d win it, hands down.. the dunks have gotten so lame, Russ is such an incredible dunker that he could win it without even trying.. i hope he changes his mind..
I actually have to agree with Russell on this one. While he is one of my absolute favorite people to watch in the league, and I do love to see him go up and hammer on people, the captivating thing about his dunks is the explosion and the strength involved. I will be the first to say that I think he is the second most athletic PG in the league (Derrick Rose being #1), but I don’t see him having a great deal of success in the contest…
…unless they put Shane Battier dummies in the middle of the lane for him to do work on.
[...] announcing that he won’t be participating in the dunk contest, Westbrook proceeded to jerk a tear out of every dunk contest lover with this lift off. Watch the [...]
[...] Westbrook on the dunk contest: “I don’t really have trick dunks and all that,” Westbrook said. “I just like games. The dunk contest is totally different from what it used to be. You got to do a lot of different stuff to get points. You got to flip and bring out a lot of different (stunts) to get some points … “I was willing to do it then. One of these years I’m going to be in it. I just don’t know if it’s going to be this year. But I will be.” [...]