Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 at 1:45 pm  |  76 responses

DeMar DeRozan Done With ‘Prop’ Dunk Contests

DeRozan is a tad salty following his loss in the Dunk Contest this past weekend, and is not a fan of gimmicky props at all. The AP reports: “Asked Tuesday if he thinks he was robbed when he didn’t reach the final of the competition, DeRozan replied, ‘I think so.’ Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers won by leaping over a car to edge Washington’s JaVale McGee in the last round. ‘I’m a dunker. Dunk contests, you go out there and dunk. I’m not into all the props and everything,’ DeRozan said. ‘I try to come out with a creative dunk and do it and go from there. My fans liked it and you can see the reaction from a lot of people afterward. If there’s a dunk contest next year I’ll do it. But not no prop dunk contest.’ A Los Angeles native and former player at Southern California, DeRozan says he was disappointed in how the contest played out in his hometown after spending extra time practicing and preparing creative dunks. He didn’t include props such as the car, a stuffed toy and using an extra basket as other competitors did. DeRozan feels the extra elements cheapens the contest. ‘I think a lot of people probably look at it like that. It seems that way when you watch it,’ he said. ‘This year I put thought into it. I practiced, had dunks ready and everything. It is what it is. I did it two years in a row. I’m good.’ Asked if he would reconsider, DeRozan said he would only compete again if the All-Star game is held in Toronto or if the rules are changed to eliminate props.”

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  • B Dizzle

    best dunk of the the contest: demar’s reverse windmill off the bounce…worst dunk of the night: blake jumping over the car…if griffin pulled off the corkscrew 360, he may have deserved to win but since he didn’t, it was definitely politics…t-dub would smash the blake show in a dunk contest, props included

  • JoeMaMa

    This comes down to Toronto/Canada getting no respect. Demar just didn’t have the hype. At least he lives in the best city.

  • First & Foremost

    Just to be different – we’ve seen dunk contests without props. We’ve seen people go between the legs, we’ve seen 360s, we’ve seen people take off from the free throw line TWO HANDED like Josh Smith did a few years ago. We’ve seen windmills, and people “jumping” over others.

    Unless you can do a flip in the air and come out dunking, the contest needs props. Putting a sticker on the backboard to show how high you can jump proves a point. Blowing out a cupcake on the rim, that adds to the dunk. Jumping over the hood of the car, take the car away and see if it gets a 50. Demar was robbed but without props the contest stalls.

  • http://jayemmbee23.tumblr.com Clutch Performer

    co-sign JoeMaMa

  • http://dude Chukaz

    Demar DeRozan got robbed big time. I lost a ton of respect for Griffin and I didn’t have much respect for him to begin with. With that said, this contest showed that LeBron should compete next year. If Blake Griffin who is nowhere near as popular as LeBron could win with crappy dunks, LeBron might win with basic dunks, lay ups, and off balance 17 footers

  • Paps

    We know DeMar’s the real champ.

  • kurt

    I agree I like real dunk contests this prop B.S. is outa hand. Honestly I would respect all these guys as dunkers alot more if they paid more homage to the art of dunking not as a circus.It’s become a gong show but that’s what happens when you let the David Stern get ahold of things they need to do what the NHL has done and turn the ALL-STAR events over to former players to tweek the events.

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    maybe one round should be designated for props, and lets have that round not be the final one

  • hbomb

    They should split this into two events. One can be called the circus act or something and you can use a trampolene to jump over the hoop and drop 10 balls in an oversized rim with goofy glasses on (that’s my “creativity”), fans get to vote (but not really, they just say you vote), and a champ is pre-determined prior to the event being held. For an example of what this would be like, see the last 3-4 years of dunk contests. The second event can be a real dunk contest where educated judges can watch players and score them based on displayed talent. Run that for a couple of years and see which one gets more viewers

  • hbomb

    ps-kudos demar, i think this is something classic fans of the nba and dunk contests have been wanting to say for a couple of years and good on him for coming out and saying it. also, blake griffin will skateboard to the hoop and lay-up 4 balls at once to win the 2012 “dunk” contest (heard it here first)

  • Overtime

    @Wilz: Sir, your comment absolutely sums it up

  • tomtom

    i hate to say it but cosign absolutely everything Eboy said.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    LOL @ Enigmatic. Good point. Chances are no NBA player would ever buy that KIA in the first place. They probably gave the prop away for free though… Probably to Griffin. Or one of the judges as bribery to get Griffin into the Final Round.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    Blake had the worst dunks overall. Book It!!

  • http://www.garrettelliott.com Garrett

    What they need to do is allow the 3rd and 4th place finishers to have a sudden death dunk-off, where they pick one dunk and do it for 3rd place. That way the crowd gets to see what the other guys had up their sleeves. I’m sure DeMar had something pretty awesome saved in case he made the finals but now we’ll never know.

  • matthew

    they hate on DD cuz he is a raptor.

  • Will Lee

    He would have won any dunk contest from 2001-2010, maybe not that with Howard throw in dunk. But the rest, he’ll win with ease.

  • the Dude

    No props … Derozan is my dunk contest hero.

  • Hyxas

    It’s so typical for the NBA. It’s all about the money, Blake is their money at the moment, so he had to win no matter what. Sad but true.
    Ask Chuck, he didn’t agree Blake won the contest either.

  • TrailBlazing&SportingLisbon

    contest was a joke,Demar got robbed, best dunk of the nighy by a mile was his second, “showstopper”…Griffin´s only decent dunk was the first, fu(kin shame…Ibaka´s free trow line nice too…IM WITH DEROZAN! #FIXED

  • http://shreeve10@googlemail.com Steve

    I agree, I don’t like props, If you can’t do it in a game, it shouldn’t be allowed in the dunk contest.
    Fan voting should be scrapped. Fan voting turns the dunk contest into a popularity contest rather than who did the best dunks.

  • SomeGuyFromToronto

    So robbed.

  • http://www.realgm.com Gman

    Robbed for sure. I think we all knew Blake was winning regardless.

  • Chris

    I thought the DC was horrible. Props suck bigtime. I thought I was the only one who thought this, as all I could read afterwards on ESPN and soforth was how GREAT the dunk contest was, and how creative bla bla bla. Come on now, grabbing a teddy bear with your teeth has NOTHING to do in a dunk contest and is LAME as hell. Gimme a break.

    And blakes final dunk? what the hell, you bring in a choir? cheesy as hell.

  • asd

    DEMAR DEROZAN =2010 and 2011 dunk contest winner straight up

  • https://twitter.com/#!/Klas647 Klas

    THANK YOU!!!

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