Shaq's face said it all: apparently it was the "worst" ring competition ever

Shaquille was bored, Durant and Mitchell killed, and one of the contestants had to apologize and promise that "from now on I will only throw lay-ups": what used to be one of the highlights of the season in the NBA turned into a sad joke and broke records of misery

Walla!

sport

20/02/2022

Sunday, 20 February 2022, 09:35

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Danny Abdia talks about meeting Kristaps Forzingis (from the Wizards' Twitter)

The ring competition was previously known as a record in the NBA season, but the decline in its prestige and popularity in recent years was evident tonight (Saturday through Sunday), with the four relatively anonymous participants - Obi Topin from the Knicks, Juan Tuscany-Anderson from Golden State, Jaylen Green from Houston and Cole Anthony from Orlando - did not live up to expectations and provided a disappointing collection of rings.

Topin eventually won the prize, but the competition was at a fairly low level, with participants in the first round recording only 7 successful dunks from 25 attempts (28%).

Increased to do Jaylen Green, the Rockets' rookie, who tried to drown with a camera phone hanging around his neck, and missed five times in a row.

He finished the first round with 1 of 9, and was eliminated.

Cole Anthony, Guard Orlando, tried another gimmick: he wore the No. 50 jersey worn by his father, former actor Greg Anthony, and drowned while wearing Timberland shoes.

He received the lowest score of them all - 70 points on both rings - and was also left out of the final.

As mentioned, Topin eventually won the competition after Tuscany-Anderson of the Warriors failed in his three attempts to sink in the final, and NBA reporters were quick to crown it as "the worst dunk competition ever."

More on Walla!

Obi-Wan Topin won the disappointing ring competition, Towns surprised in the threesome competition

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Active NBA players and past players killed the participants.

Kevin Durant tweeted that he would have won the contest "with a basic dunk in one hand", and Shaquille O'Neal who was in the stands uploaded to Instagram a picture in which he looked old with the caption: "I wish I was here instead of being in the ring contest".

The network even "caught" Shaq with a dissatisfied face during the competition, comparing her to his past photos from the competition, in which he looked enthusiastic and shocked.

Dwayne Wade who was also present in the hall gave the competition a score of only 6, and Donovan Mitchell also joined the critics and wrote: "Zack Lavine and Aaron Gordon (who participated in the great ringing competition in 2016) ruined the rest of us all", offering to "bring JE Morant to the competition next year".

Juan Toscano-Anderson, who as mentioned failed to drown in the final round, explained that "I think I was overzealous after not being able to drown in the first attempt. It bothered me."

Cole Anthony, who was eliminated in the first round, even apologized and tweeted:

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At least he's happy.

Topin (Photo: GettyImages, Tim Nwachukwu)

Obi Topin is not particularly interested in all this.

At the end he celebrated and looked happy, explaining that he worked on the dunks with a special rings coach he hired for the competition.

"I told him I wanted to do dunks that had never been seen before, and I did. It's an amazing feeling," boasted the Knicks forward, who lost in the final of the competition last year to Anfrani Simmons of Portland.

"I knew I wanted revenge this time, and I enjoyed doing it. It's a great feeling. A lot of legendary players have won the ring competition in the past, so of course being on that list is special. I don't take it for granted."

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• The ring competition