Andre Iguodala robbed of slam-dunk title
Mon, Feb 20th, 2006 | 9:50am | Sports - Basketball
ESPN has an article explaining how Andre Iguodala was robbed of the slam dunk title when it was awarded to Nate Robinson instead, and they blame the judges.
Even though it was obvious to the crowd that Philly's swingman delivered the best dunk of the night in the first round, catching an Allen Iverson pass off the back of the glass and gliding under the backboard and rim for a reverse-slam on the other side. And then running off the court and down the tunnel as if to say it was over.
"Andre's behind-the-backboard dunk, that was crazy," said Josh Smith, the defending champ who said he'd never try that even after seeing it completed. Said Iguodala, "I came up with that one day during the summer. I was in the gym and this guy told me I couldn't touch one side of the backboard and come to the other side and dunk the ball, and I did it.
That's when Nate-Rob, showing character and persistence, got himself back in the competition, walking across the court and handing Spud Webb his old Atlanta jersey No. 4. With Webb in his new duds, Robinson caught a bounce pass from the onetime dunk champ and jumped over all 5 feet, 7 inches of him for a spectacular jackknife slam, finishing in a squat that he held for effect.
"My teammate Jamal [Crawford], we were on the plane and he was like, 'I have the perfect idea, you should jump over Spud Webb.' And I was, like, 'That is a good idea.'" The judges thought so, too, lowballing Iguodala with a 44 on his next attempt to force the first tiebreaker in the competition's history. The judges even looked like they were in cohoots, glancing at each other before they revealed their scores.
Either way, it was what the crowd wanted.
There's video of the dunks on the ESPN article page.
Submitted by niraj
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Posted by: Anonymous on Jun 3rd, 2006 | 7:05am