Few outside Oklahoma, Kentucky, and his hometown of Queens truly knew what Hamidou Diallo was capable of before Saturday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder wing, though, was so confident heading into his first NBA dunk contest that he barely even practiced.
After beating the New York Knicks' Dennis Smith, Jr. in a rare dunk contest marked far more by its highs than lows, Diallo was asked by The New York Times' Marc Stein how many times he prepped his contest-winning dunks.
“I only practiced one time,” he said on ESPN radio. “I just came out here, wanted to get the crowd involved and show off my athleticism.”
Mission accomplished.
Diallo was by the most consistent dunker from an intriguing field consisting of Smith, Atlanta Hawks big man John Collins, and crowd favorite Miles Bridges of the hosting Charlotte Hornets. The rookie also had the clear highlight of the night, though, throwing down an instant-classic slam over the top of 7-foot-1 Shaquille O'Neal, adding some extra spice to his effort by putting his elbow through the rim, a la Vince Carter.
Diallo, unsurprisingly, couldn't match that all-time jam in the final round but impressed nevertheless on his final turn by jumping over the assisting Quavo, taking the ball from atop the rapper's head in midair, then throwing it down with two hands.
A second-round pick of the Thunder, Diallo is averaging 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in just 11.4 minutes per game, carving out a small niche for one of the league's best teams as an impactful defender and transition finisher. The University of Kentucky product still needs to hone his clunky jumper but has all the makings of a quality NBA player for years to come – assuming, at least, he works on his shot more than he did Saturday night's dunks.
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