There are cool dunks, and then there is Blake Griffin jumping over a Kia to win the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend. It’s been a few years since then. The former LA Clippers star rode out of town for good after not being able to find a home during the regular 2023-24 season.
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Griffin quickly rose to stardom after making it to the NBA in 2009 on the back of some ridiculously superheroesque antics. But the 6-foot-9 star would soon deal with a plethora of serious injuries that would reduce his status to that of a journeyman for the majority of his career.
Funnily enough, when asked if he would be able to recreate the Kia dunk, Griffin said if he attempted to, it would be fatal. That was in jest, of course. The 6-time All-Star NBA power forward was, however, happy to share what gave him the idea to jump over the Kia in the first place.
Appearing on Post Moves with Candace Parker and Aaliyah Boston, Griffin talked about everything that went into planning the iconic moment. “So Baron Davis had this old-school drop-top Cadillac, and he pulled it up to practice one time, and I had just parked. I was looking at it. I had just agreed to do the dunk contest,” he explained.
“I am like, ‘I wonder if I could jump over that thing’ … NBA was like, ‘Kia is the official sponsor. It would be great if it were a Kia.’ I was like, ‘Okay, alright … it’s not a small car.’ So then we had the sunroof idea. They made me come in Thursday night of the All-Star Weekend and do a rehearsal, which, at the time, I thought was a normal thing,” Griffin continued.
“So we came in and did the rehearsal thing, and Baron hopped out of the sunroof, and originally, I was supposed to catch it low and do a windmill, but … I caught it a little high … after the dunk contest, everybody was like, ‘He didn’t even jump over the whole car. It was just the hood.’ I am like, ‘Guys, nobody has ever tried to jump over a hood before,’” Griffin recalled, chuckling.
Regardless, he rolled with it, and today, it’s an iconic moment in modern NBA history. Blake Griffin might have ended his career with some regrets, not having hit the ceiling that was expected of him, but at least he will live forever through that dunk!
