NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2017: Highlights, Reaction from Glenn Robinson III's Win

Indiana Pacers forward Glenn Robinson III won the 2017 NBA Slam Dunk Contest over Phoenix Suns forward Derrick Jones Jr., Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon and Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.

This year's competition was largely a disappointment. All four contestants missed numerous dunk attempts throughout the night.

Robinson III, however, performed quite well overall, posting perfect scores twice out of his four dunks.

Here are some highlights and reactions from the Slam Dunk Contest.

Highlights and Reaction

Robinson III woke up a dead crowd with this reverse jam on his first attempt. Not only was it impressive that Robinson III only needed one effort to complete this dunk, and not only was it impressive that he cleared a person sitting on someone else's shoulders, but his head is at rim level at the apex of his flight.

Justin Rose, a sports reporter for WXYZ (Detroit's ABC affiliate), noted NBA legend Chris Webber's reaction after this dunk:

Fox Sports writer Rob Perez also noted how high Robinson III jumped:

Robinson III earned a perfect 50 for his efforts.

Next, Derrick Jones Jr. jumped over four of his Phoenix Suns teammates for a lefty slam:

He then followed that up with an alley-oop, between-the-legs dunk off the side of the backboard that earned him a 50. Jones Jr. even gave the classic Vince Carter "it's over" arm wave after the dunk. Alas, that was done a bit too soon:

"

Derrick Jones Jr. was born to dunk. #VerizonDunk#StateFarmSaturday pic.twitter.com/NLqCuzjzRA

— NBA (@NBA) February 19, 2017"

At that point, though, it looked like Jones Jr. might run away with the trophy going into the finals. Mavericks.com beat reporter Earl K. Sneed was one of many people who thought this would be the case:

However, Jones Jr. failed to complete an attempt for his first dunk in the finals, leaving the door wide open for Robinson III to pull off the upset (a 15/2 underdog, per OddsShark).

Needing a 44 on his final dunk to win, Robinson III put an exclamation point on his victory with an emphatic reverse slam, this time over Pacers forward Paul George, Boomer the Panther (the Pacers' mascot) and Kayla, a Pacers cheerleader:

While Robinson III deserved his trophy, folks were largely disappointed with the Slam Dunk Contest (and the night, which failed to generate any buzz) overall. CBS Sports Columnist Bill Reiter summed it up well:

That being said, in hindsight, this year's Dunk Contest may have been doomed from the start. It had an impossible task to live up to last year's competition, which is as good as the contest gets.