New York Knicks rookie Obi Toppin and his high-flying antics in the Slam Dunk Contest was one of the highlights of the recently-concluded NBA All-Star Weekend. Even before his participation in the All-Star festivities, Toppin had already established himself as a rising star. As it turns out, however, even Toppin himself could not help but get stars-truck during his first encounter with Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
In a recent interview on SNY, Toppin talked about his experience during the All-Star weekend. According to the 23-year-old, meeting LeBron proved to be one of his favorite moments from the event:
Rooks still get starstruck by the King 🤩 👑 pic.twitter.com/wECMOy6Wvc
— ESPN (@espn) March 9, 2021
We're not sure how Obi responded to LeBron, but it wouldn't be surprising if he struggled to string a proper sentence together. The Lakers star is one of, if not the most influential basketball players of his generation and youngsters such as Toppin grew up idolizing LeBron. Meeting him face-to-face for the first time — regardless of your own status — is certainly still something that can bring about awe. As he admits, this was exactly the case for Obi.
Toppin made his mark during the All-Star weekend, and he almost brought home the Slam Dunk trophy to New York. He came up with a few memorable dunks during the event, and on another day, he could have probably edged out Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers for the dunk title.
Toppin has shown a ton of promise for the Knicks so far this season, so this probably won't be his last All-Star appearance.
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