CHAMPION – Jeremy Evans wins 2012 Slam Dunk Contest

Somehow, after an absolutely embarrassing first dunk, Jeremy Evans came back with the spectacular dunk you see above and won the 2012 Slam Dunk Contest. Even more remarkable is that the voting was entirely fan-based through tweets and texts, meaning Jazz nation responded in a big way.

Congratulations to young Jeremy Evans on the big win.

As I tweeted during the event, I’m a dunk contest apologist but the entire affair was a complete debacle. Terrible dunks, heavy-handed product placements and tie-ins, and more terrible missed dunks. If there are Basketball Gods, something about the format will change next year so we don’t have to have the most entertaining part of the night coming from the hilarious live-tweeting by NBA fans.

Evans’ first dunk was a concept dunk featuring a small camera on his head, for a POV affair. Unfortunately, his self-lob was too close to the rim. Instead of letting it go for a better throw, he simply dunked it softly, to deafening silence.

His other dunk was a tribute to Karl Malone, with Evans donning a Malone jersey and delivering Karl’s signature hand-behind-the-head dunk over the ubiquitous Kevin Hart. (Who is only 5’2″, making it much less impressive.)

As noted two days ago by @netw3rk, it was a missed opportunity by Evans:

4 million votes don’t lie, though. Congrats again to Evans on a great win!

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Here’s a reminder of how the Hammer Dunk goes: