The All-Star Dunk Contest, in which foreign players were wiped out, ended with a one-man show by Lens Abando. But why didn’t Ronde Hollis Jefferson come out?
In the 2022-23 SKT A-Dot Professional Basketball All-Star Game KCC Dunk Contest held at the KT Sonicboom Arena in Suwon on the 15th, Abando won the championship with a perfect score of 50 from the preliminaries to the 1st and 2nd rounds of the finals.
Abando is the first Filipino player to win the dunk contest. In addition, it is the first winner from the Asian Quarter and the first case in which an Asian player won alone in a competition that is not divided into domestic / foreign divisions.
In fact, this dunk contest was a ‘no jam’ event that was announced. Even in the regular league, such as Emmanuel Terry and Yushu Eundoye, who showed off extraordinary elasticity and great dunk shots, they were all kicked out and could not play. The departure of foreign players in the dunk contest, where splendor and originality are important, meant that it became an uninteresting event at all.
As expected, except for Abando, the dunk shots of domestic players were mediocre. Veteran Choi Jin-soo’s windmill dunk shot in the preliminaries was the only performance suitable for the stage of the dunk contest. From Aaron Gordon’s ‘folder dunk’ to 180-degree spin dunk and windmill back dunk, I was able to barely erase my regret for the famous scenes created by Abando.
However, there is one doubt. 메이저사이트 Terry and Eun Do-ye could not participate in the dunk contest because they had already left Korea. But not Ronde Hollis Jefferson. He was also included in the dunk contest roster. I expected something special from him, who showed great dunks during the regular season, but he did not show up.
A KCC official said, “In the case of Jefferson, his back was not good even in the first half, so he often received acupuncture. Although he was included on the dunk contest roster, he was unable to compete due to back problems,” he explained.
He continued, “It’s not a condition that makes it difficult to play in the second half. It can get worse, so we try not to overdo it as much as possible.”
Except for the special situation of the Asian Quarter, this year is the first dunk contest in which no foreign players have participated. I should have found a replacement card, but that never happened.
The absence of the dunk contest by foreign players boasting power and elasticity came back with great regret. It seems that KBL, which finished the All-Star Game, needs to look back.