How Shumpert won ‘DWTS’
At first, it didn’t seem likely that former NBA player Iman Shumpert would do very well on “Dancing With the Stars.”
His debut dance during the season premiere was a blast to watch — he and his professional partner, Daniella Karagach, appeared to be having more fun than anyone else — but the judges weren’t impressed.
Throughout the season, they got harsh criticism and low scores, especially from famously tough judge Len Goodman. But as millions of viewers saw Monday night, Shumpert proved the skeptics wrong. He and Karagach were crowned the champions of Season 30, beating teen pop star Jojo Siwa, Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby and “The Talk” co-host Amanda Kloots.
Shumpert, who won an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, became visibly emotional when host Tyra Banks announced his name. He’s the first former NBA player to make the finale, let alone win the show.
On one hand, this was a bit of a surprise, considering that Siwa was the reliable front-runner. (Oddsmakers had her as the top choice from the start.) Not only is Siwa a talented dancer — she got her start on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms” — but she made history as part of the first same-sex couple on the U.S. edition of the show.
But the momentum started to shift around the sixth week, when Shumpert and Karagach let loose with a jaw-dropping contemporary dance inspired by Jordan Peele’s horror film “Us.” The pair earned their first perfect score as the judges called it “brilliant” and “a masterpiece,” and the routine went viral on social media. Their height difference, with Shumpert at 6-foot-5 and Karagach nearly a foot shorter, meant they could do many difficult lifts.
“Holy cow!” judge Carrie Ann Inaba yelled. “That was genius. You transported us to another world. My mind was blown.”
After that, the judges warmed up to the pair even more, though they still weren’t the favorites. But it didn’t really matter. Fan votes count for a lot on “Dancing With the Stars,” and Shumpert and Karagach were so well-liked that they were never in the bottom two, so they were safe from elimination.
“There’s a reason why you’ve come the furthest than any other NBA basketball player ever — because you create these amazing moments. I’m so proud of you,” Derek Hough said after Shumpert’s tango, a clear indication of how much he had improved over the season. “That was fantastic.”
Still, Shumpert had no illusions about his standings before Monday’s finale. “I might be the underdog, but I’m still in game mode,” he said in an introductory video. But after a cha-cha and fox trot fusion, even Goodman had to admit that Shumpert brought down the house.
“At the top of the show, you said you’re an underdog. Well, sometimes, underdogs bite back,” Goodman said to cheers. “And that is what you have done tonight.”
The pair got a 40, and then another 40 for a captivating freestyle dance that judge and former “DWTS” dancer Julianne Hough (filling in for her brother Derek, who tested positive for coronavirus last week) called “my favorite freestyle I’ve ever seen in 30 seasons.”
Goodman offered more foreshadowing, adding, “This season has been like a fantastic book. And you never know what is going to happen. There’s twists and turns, and you really don’t know the result until you turn the last page.”
The storybook ending came true, as Shumpert and Karagach collected the Mirror Ball Trophy.