NBA ALL-STAR SLAM DUNK

February 19, 2022

Obi Toppin

Press Conference

Q. When you went into your last dunk, you had it sewn up already. You ended up coming for your best dunk of the night. Can you just take us through that dunk attempt and what you were thinking at the time?

OBI TOPPIN: I wanted to get it on the third dunk, but I ended up missing it and going off the backboard between the legs. I knew going back to the last dunk, I knew I was going to pull it out and get it on the first try because I knew what I was doing wrong. But I'm glad I made it that time.

Q. Who did you jump over on the first dunk, and then where did you get the idea to tap it?

OBI TOPPIN: That was my guy Chuck from Team Flight Brothers. He is actually right back here. There you go. He definitely gave me the ideas. We were talking before the Dunk Contest and were, like, we want to come out here and do things that people have never seen before. So those dunks, never been done in a Dunk Contest. I felt good being out there.

Q. What does it mean for you to win this contest?

OBI TOPPIN: It means a lot. As you all know, my dad right back here, used to be a dunker. So for me to win this, I knew I had to come back for my revenge from last year, and I had fun doing it. And we had a lot of great dunkers here today. I'm glad I came out with the W.

Q. The last time Cleveland hosted the All-Star Game, in 1997, the Dunk Contest champion was Kobe Bryant. Now that you're in the same conversation, how does that feel?

OBI TOPPIN: It feels amazing. There's been a lot of legends that have won the Dunk Contest, and for my name to be a part of that is something special. I don't take it for granted.

Q. I recognize this might be somewhat of a reach, but you went to college in Ohio in Dayton. Is it a little bit cooler to have won it here in Cleveland?

OBI TOPPIN: Of course. Dayton is, like, two and a half, three hours away. I know there was a lot of Dayton fans in there. New York and Dayton fans. I appreciate you all coming out. Yeah, Dayton fans, Ohio fans, they're amazing. They show a lot of love. Definitely heard them today. They definitely came by.

It means a lot for me to do it in Ohio for sure. This is like my second home.

Q. Were the other dunks from Jalen and Juan Toscano-Anderson and Cole, did anything stick out, the creativity about your competition tonight?

OBI TOPPIN: They all stuck out. All of those guys are great dunkers. We're all cool people, so we were talking before the Dunk Contest. We knew we just wanted to go out there, put on a show and have fun. I feel like that's what all of us did. We were encouraging everyone when we were out there, trying to get the crowd riled up.

When Cole missed those two first ones with the Timbs on, I was, like, nah, them Timbs, them heavy, so we got to boost his energy up. I was trying to get everybody on their feet for him doing that. But everyone had great dunks, and we had fun today.

Q. For the rest of the season are you going to show more dunks to us, different style? Do you have more to show us, and do you not have stronger desire to even dunk more?

OBI TOPPIN: You're talking about in games?

Q. In regular-season games.

OBI TOPPIN: I'm going to stick to the regular tomahawks. I might go between the legs one more time. I might do something else. I might pull something special out and go behind my back or something on a fast break. But, no, I just go out there, have fun. Maybe ya'll see a fancy dunk, maybe not, but we're going to do something.