The NBA Slam Dunk Contest is typically not kind to big men, and that was on full display on Saturday night when Atlanta Hawks center John Collins put forth an underwhelming performance that was instantly mocked on social media.
Collins was not happy with his showing:
“I was just disappointed,” Collins said, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
Even Collins' dunk that was actually good, a reverse slam in which he grabbed one side of the backboard before finishing on the other side with the flush, was met with a small smattering of applause:
“At that point, I knew I lost,” he said. “I had done a dunk that no one had ever seen before, and I did it on the first attempt. I got a 40 and no crowd reaction. It was a tough night.”
Collins' outing was so shaky that he finished behind Miles Bridges, who did not even complete his first dunk because he missed every attempt.
He was the only one of the four contestants to not have anyone else assist him in the event, and that was because Collins feels that doing so demonstrates a lack of creativity overall:
“It lacks in the creativity department, but it adds hype and helps out your popularity,” Collins said. “It definitely helps your score, but creativity-wise, it’s definitely a cop-out. It’s like, ‘Whoever is on the sideline, I’ll just jump over them.’ You do it, and you complete it — it looks nice, and it’s likely a 50, but you’ve seen it before.”
Well, at least Collins is a stud in actual basketball games.
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