LeBron jumped over John Lucas on Sunday, and we all proclaimed it the best throwdown of the season. Then, Blake Griffin assaulted Kendrick Perkins in mid-air on Monday with his dunk that may have violated the Geneva Convention, and we all had to reconsider.
Is it time to reconsider a third time? And from all places, the Southwest Athletic Conference?
Yep.
Savalace Townsend, Arkansas Pine Bluff’s 6-1 guard, saw an opening to his left bringing the ball up the floor on Jan. 28 and ripped one of the nastiest dunks of the year on Grambling State. Just two steps inside the free-throw line, Townsend — who calls himself on Twitter “not your typical athlete” — disregards the defender setting up for a charge. He winds up nearly horizontal at the finish.
Hey, I’m not here to rag on anything Griffin does in the air; the Clipper’s practically a Flying Wallenda at this point. That said, I’ll take this over anything from the NBA this week because 1) he’s smaller and 2) he still finishes with as much power and reach as any of the others. And unlike the other guys’ helpless defenders (cc: Perk and Lucas), Grambling’s defense had a full two or three seconds to set up for his drive because he handled the rock the whole way, and he still ripped it off.
Being in the top five this week — Paul George, Andre Iguodala, LeBron and Blake included — is no small feat of flight. But we may have a new leader.
Does this compare to Blake Griffin’s facial on Kendrick Perkins?
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