The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pacers’ Robinson earns dunk crown
Perfect reverse slam clinches final round against Suns’ Jones.
NEW ORLEANS — Glenn Robinson III of the Indiana Pacers is the All-Star slam dunk champion.
Robinson beat Derrick Jones Jr. of the Phoenix Suns in the final round Saturday. Robinson clinched the win with a perfect 50 on the final dunk of the night — going over three people for a reverse dunk and nearly touching his head on the rim in the process.
Robinson and Jones embraced when it was over, and Robinson went over to shake hands with judges.
“This is just the beginning for me,” Robinson said.
Robinson started with a dunk where he leaped over Indiana teammate Paul George, grabbing the ball from the All-Star before his slam that merited 44 points.
Jones failed to go over three people — or rather, one man, one Suns dancer and Suns’ mascot The Gorilla — and get a dunk down in his first attempt of the finals, yet got 37 points. His second attempt, an off-the-bounce, between-the-legs slam, was a perfect 50.
Silver speaks: Commissioner Adam Silver says the NBA remains in a very good place, citing the continued international growth of the game and successes from a business standpoint.
Silver gave his annual AllStar Saturday night address, saying “the state of the league is as good as it’s ever been.”
A new seven-year collective bargaining agreement that assures labor peace for the foreseeable future is completed, the league is making forays into the eSports world and there’s never been more international players in the NBA than there are now.
Silver says about 25 percent of the NBA’s players were born outside of the U.S., up about 5 percent from recent years, and predicted that number will keep rising.
He also lauded the way New Orleans was able to arrange to host All-Star weekend on relatively short notice. This weekend’s events were to be held in Charlotte, before they were moved in response to the state’s law regarding protections for the LGBT community. New Orleans was introduced as the new host in August.
Best shot: Houston’s Eric Gordon dethroned Golden State’s Klay Thompson as All-Star 3-point champion.
Gordon’s score of 21 in a final-round tiebreaker defeated Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, the 2013 winner who had 18. The pair had each finished with a score of 20 in the final round, meaning they each had to shoot 25 more balls to decide it.
Thompson was eliminated in the first round, missing a final shot from the corner that could have put him through ahead of Walker.
A big win: Big men continue to reign supreme in the All-Star skills competition.
Knicks 7-foot-3 forward Kristaps Prozingis won it, beating Utah’s Gordon Hayward in the finals.
Those vanquished in earlier rounds included guards John Wall of Washington and Isaiah Thomas of Boston, both because they couldn’t make their initial 3-pointers required to close out the course before Hayward did.
Porzingis emerged from the big-men’s division that included the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis and Denver’s Nikola Jokic.
Porzingis and Hayward were neck and neck until the end of the course, but Porzingis hit his 3 first to end it.