NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2012: Shumpert's Dunk over Lin's Couch Would've Been Epic

Iman Shumpert had prepared one of the most creative, hilarious and timely dunks ever imagined for the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

Marc Berman of the New York Post reported that the Knicks guard was planning on leaping over a couch for one of his slams during the event.

The couch obviously symbolizes the household object Jeremy Lin gained notoriety for sleeping on during the start of Linsanity.

That easily would have been one of the best jams ever, no matter what he did once he cleared it.

It’s a damn shame he won’t be participating this year due to a left knee injury.

The fact that Shumpert was even considering bringing a couch—which hopefully resembled the exact one Lin famously crashed on in Landry Fields' Manhattan-based apartment—down to Orlando to throw down over is pure genius.

Just think about it.

We’ve seen plenty of iconic dunks over the years, but no one has done anything that related to a sensation that has swept the NBA and the entire sports landscape by storm.

It would make Blake Griffin jumping over a car look childish by comparison.

When you factor in that Shumpert is a legitimate 6’5”, 220-pound freak-of-nature athlete, it would have all come together for the greatest jam in the long and illustrious history of the contest.

If he had the creativity to involve Lin and Fields' sofa, you know he would have had the wisdom to come up with an equally clever and artistic display as he was soaring over the couch and coming down with a rim-rattling flush.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a lasting impression on an event that just looks downright depressing, and did even before Shumpert had to bow out.

Now we know that it at least would have been amazing. It might take someone to bust out a Tim Tebow-inspired dunk to top Iman’s Linsane idea.