The PBA All-Star Weekend is all fun and games, after all.
The Slam Dunk Contest is one of the most awaited sidelights of PBA All-Star Weekend, and it has produced its fair share of memorable highlights. It has also given fans quite a few bloopers, badly missed dunks, and head-scratching gimmicks.
But as far as the funniest and most amusing of them go, these five are right up there.
Justin Melton tries a blindfold hammer
Quickmelt is one of the shortest winners of the PBA Slam Dunk Contest, but he certainly stands tall in this list for the blindfold dunk he tried in 2015—with emphasis on the word “tried.” That’s because Melton, then with the Star Hotshots, was way short on his dunk attempt and hit nothing but air. Well, at least he went viral.
Jam Jamito sidestep jam
Jamito put the “side” in sidelights in the 2017 PBA Slam Dunk Contest. The then-Barangay Ginebra San Miguel backup big had the 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar stand near the rim, possibly as a human hurdle. But instead of jumping over his teammate, Jamito just sidestepped around Aguilar and threw down a one-hander—to the amusement of the crowd (except then-PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa).
Jared Dillinger pays tribute to Pacman
This one from the 2009 PBA Slam Dunk Contest is pure gold. Dillinger, then with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters, honored Manny Pacquiao by wearing a Pacman-inspired getup, complete with boxing gloves, for one of his dunks. Too bad he muffed all three of his attempts and looked gassed at the end of his charade. At least he got teammate Jimmy Alapag and the whole arena hyped.
Ronald Tubid channels Dora the Explorer
In the 2008 PBA Slam Dunk Contest, Tubid proved he could still get up while weighed down by a backpack with 25 pounds of stuff in it (or at least that’s what the announcer said). He proved his point on his second attempt—a one-handed 180. Plus points for looking like the male, basketball player version of Dora the Explorer.
Chris Newsome jumps over Benjie Paras while serving dirty ice cream
Writing that sentence alone already feels too fantastical. Like straight out of a strange, overly incoherent dream. We'll just let the video speak for itself.
Let's see if this year's PBA Slam Dunk Contest will deliver more entertaining moments.
Catch all the side events of PBA All-Star Weekend this Friday live at 3 p.m. on TV5.