2011 NBA All-Star: Grading Every Dunk In The Slam Dunk Contest (With Video)

Wow! What a dunk contest. 

This contest brought back the main event of All-Star Saturday, as DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, Blake Griffin and JaVala McGee put on an absolute show. 

There were some very impressive dunk and some not so impressive. 

Blake Griffin won, but how great were all his dunks? What about McGee? DeRozan? Ibaka?

Well, let's find out as I grade every single dunk at the 2011 NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. 

DeMar DeRozan "East Bay Funk Remix" Dunk

Pulling a page right out of Isiah Rider's playbook, DeMar DeRozan did his own version of the infamous east bay funk dunk. 

Many have attempted dunks similar to this but DeRozan's was a bit impressive as he went between the legs. However, it did take him a few tries to complete thanks to some terrible pass attempts from teammate Amir Johnson, but he was able to finally complete it. Had he worked the crowd a little bit better, he would have received a better score.

Final Grade: B 

Serge Ibaka "Free-Throw Line" Dunk

The most underrated dunk of the contest. Ibaka was the first guy I've seen actually take off from the actual free-throw line, and dunk it. His finish was a little weak but impressive leaps from a seven footer nonetheless. He even worked the crowd a little as well. The 45 score doesn't justify this dunk.

Grade: A- 

JaVale McGee "Double-Rim" Dunk

One of the most creative dunks of the contest. McGee one-uped Dwight Howard's dunk from last year, where he brought out another rim and dunked on it 11ft.

Well, McGee went with the other rim, but he set it up side by side and proceeded to dunk it with two basketballs. Albeit, it took him a few tries but the degree of difficulty on the dunk was insane. One of the most impressive dunks of the contest.

Grade: A+ 

Blake Griffin "360 Spin With a Little Flare" Dunk

Blake's first dunk was quite an impressive one. It took him a couple tries to complete it, but he was able to get it relatively quick. What was so great about this dunk was the simplicity, yet flash all at the same time. Griffin turned a regular 360 dunk and added a little flavor to it. Pretty impressive. 

Grade: B+

DeMar DeRozan "Baseline Up-N-Under" Dunk

This was easily the better of DeRozan's two dunks. The most impressive part about it was that he got it in his first try. 

DeRozan started off on the baseline and then went up acting like he was going to dunk it, but immediately brought it down below and up again, and proceeded to finish the 50 score dunk. 

Impressive dunk

Grade: A

Serge Ibaka "Teddy Bear" Dunk

Probably the most creative dunk of the entire contest. Ibaka was able to use an actual kid as a prop as well as the kids' teddy bear. It took him only his 2nd try to complete the dunk. The degree of difficulty on this dunk is very high as you have to time yourself perfectly and grab the teddy bear while having the concentration and hangtime to complete the dunk. 

Grade: B+

Blake Griffin "Off The Side Backboard Windmill"

This dunk started off as a 360 from the side of the backboard but Griffin was unable to complete the dunk in numerous tries so he "settled" for a nonchalant windmill dunk from a pass by teammate Baron Davis. Obviously the numerous attempts take away from the dunk but the quality of the dunk itself was impressive, but we've seen Blake do windmills in a game, so I wasn't overly impressive. Plus this dunk has been done before.

Final Grade: C+ 

JaVale McGee "Three-Basketballs At The Same Time" Dunk

McGee kept coming out with the most creative dunks of the entire contest and this one is no exception. After dunk two basketballs, he decided to elevate his level of play and attempt to dunk three balls in at once. 

Using the assistance of teammate John Wall, McGee was able to dunk the basketballs in his hand first, then quickly recover to catch the third ball and dunk it. The degree of difficult on this dunk was insane and the fact that no one has ever done it made it even more impressive. 

Grade: A+ 

Blake Griffin "Off The Lob Elbow" Dunk

Vince Carter was the first one to do the elbow dunk, but Blake Griffin was the first one to throw a lob and dunk it. 

The dunk itself doesn't seem impressive, but Blake wanted to show off his ridiculous hops and elevation and was perfectly able to do that, by executing this dunk on his first dunk. He was able to throw the ball off the backboard, catch it, and proceed to put his entire elbow into the rim (which I might add caused a little redness on his elbow). 

Overall, pretty impressive dunk. 

Grade: A-

JaVale McGee "Baseline Rock-Da-Cradle" Dunk

Wow, I mean a 7footer doing a rock-da-cradle dunk alone is impressive but when you go baseline and do a rock-da-cradle, that's just insane. 

McGee was able to complete the dunk on just his second try and made an increasingly difficult dunk for anyone look easy. He was able to twist and bend and avoid hitting his head on the backboard and somehow finish a dunk moving away from the rim.

Wow, just wow.

Grade: A+

Blake Griffin "Jump Over a Car" Dunk

The dunk of the night, according to many. 

They say presentation is everything, and this dunk showed you what that was all about. 

While Blake Griffin is a quiet dude himself, Kenny Smith was able to hype up the crowd for his dunker Blake. He brought out a very impressive looking car, as well an entire church choir to sing "I believe I can fly" as well as asking the crowd to stand on their feet. He set the stage for Griffin. 

All Blake had to do was finish. 

What is also overlooked is that Griffin didn't just dribble up and dunk it, he was able to receive a pass from teammate Baron Davis who was sitting in the car. Davis threw the lob, and Griffin did the rest. 

Grade: A+

JaVale McGee "Off The Backboard Elevation" Dunk

By far the weakest dunk McGee had all night. He could have tried to do something to top Blake after his car dunk but proceeded to just do a "off the glass" dunk, trying to show off his elevation. We all knew McGee could get up, so there was no need to emphasize on that point, and waste a dunk on it. Perhaps a better finishing dunk would have won him the contest. 

Grade: C-