These selections are no slam dunk
Iman Shumpert celebrates after his steal led to a basket in the second half against the Philadelphia 76ers. (Jan. 11, 2012) Credit: Jim McIsaac
If the names Derrick Williams, Paul George, Iman Shumpert and Chase Budinger are supposed to conjure images of a dunking spectacular, forgive us if we just don't see it. Though these four players will compete in the 2012 Slam Dunk Contest as part of NBA All-Star weekend, they're questionable selections at best.
Consider this: Washington's JaVale McGee, who's 73-for-73 in dunks this season and put on a good show last year, wasn't even asked to participate. Apparently the NBA wanted to "freshen things up."
None of these players seem like adequate Febreze if that was the league's true intention, but there's obviously more to a Slam Dunk contest than purely being able to dunk well. It's about spectacle and "wow" factor. That being said, it's pretty difficult to statistically measure those qualities. What we can measure? How about the top dunkers in the league?
Though no one will likely be jumping over cars in a game situation, the stats certainly show who can perform under pressure. We'll do it in groups of four to show how the Slam Dunk competition could have looked:
The most prolific dunkers this season (entering Tuesday):
1. Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers, 85-for-95, .895 percent
2. Dwight Howard, Orlando, 74-for-78, .949 percent
3. JaVale McGee, Washington, 73-for-73, 1.000 percent
4. DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers, 68-for-81, .840 percent
The dunkers with the best percentage, in order of most dunks* (entering Tuesday):
1. JaVale McGee, Washington, 73-for-73, 1.000 percent
2. Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 30-for-30, 1.000 percent
3. Trevor Booker, Washington, 26-for-26, 1.000 percent
4. Kevin Love, Minnesota, 21-for-21, 1.000 percent
*15 players have a perfect dunking percentage this season
And how about the four players who are actually competing in the competition?
1. Derrick Williams, Minnesota, 10-for-21, .905 percent
2. Paul George, Indiana, 19-for-22, .880 percent
3. Iman Shumpert, Knicks, 10-for-15, .667
4. Chase Budinger, Houston, 6-for-6, 1.000
Shumpert is not only the worst statistical dunker of the four players scheduled to compete on Saturday, he's also the worst dunker on his own team. The Knicks' best? Tyson Chandler, who's 67-for-72 for a .931 percentage. Chandler has the fifth most dunks of all players this season.
Combined, the four Slam Dunk contestants only have 45 dunks on the season.
Oh yeah, NBA. Real fresh.
Cody Derespina's "The Number's Game" is a Newsday app-only exclusive
