Even after the Lakers’ Shannon Brown failed miserably in this year’s Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, virtually everyone around the league know he can flat out fly and is a highlight reel jam just waiting to happen. If you don’t believe me, just check out his Top 10 dunks of this season. During this year’s playoffs, Shannon has made the most of what little playing time that coach Phil Jackson gave him, by supplying 8 ppg of instant offense as Kobe Bryant’s back-up.
Fast forward to Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, and while Kobe was putting on a show by dropping 40 points on the Suns(including 21 pts in the decisive 3rd quarter), all anyone was talking about was Shannon Brown’s amazing dunk attempt in the final period. With just under 9 minutes remaining, and the game already in hand for the world champs, Brown got up a head of steam from half-court, took off fromjust inside the charity stripe, and successfully attempted to leap clear over a bewildered J-Rich, a-la Vince Carter in the ’00 Olympics, where he got so high that his head was above the rim. Unfortunately the ball didn’t go in, but when you see all of the fans and teammates faces(especially Derek Fisher) on Brown’s almost insane murder of Jason Richardson, you have to give the man props for what could very well be the greatest dunk fail in history, unless you count this.
Shannon Brown’s Near 187 of Jason Richardson:
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
