Keshad Johnson claims 1st dunk contest; Damian Lillard wins 3rd 3-point contest

INGLEWOOD — Keshad Johnson knew he wanted to bring the “West Coast flair” to the NBA’s dunk contest. As he entered the court, after a movie trailer-like introduction sounded over the Intuit Dome speakers, Bay Area rapper E-40 trailed behind the Miami Heat forward as the pair jived to the music echoing across the arena.

During his first dunk, E-40 joined the party as Johnson soared above the Sick Wid It Records founder as he posed mid-air with his hand on his head before slamming down a one-handed dunk. The 24-year-old, who played collegiately at San Diego State before turning professional out of Arizona, said he wanted to show fans that anyone can do anything with a dream; a dream that for Johnson, included dancing after each dunk.

Johnson lived the dream Saturday evening, winning the dunk contest over San Antonio Spurs rookie forward Carter Bryant, an Inland Empire native and fellow Arizona product, with a final score of 97.4 out of 100 in the final round. Bryant appeared to be in control of the final round, securing a perfect score of 50 on his penultimate dunk, when he bounced the ball in front of him, caught it between his legs and dunked with his right hand.

But Bryant struggled on his second dunk. He missed his first two tries, pausing to talk to Vince Carter in between. He attempted bouncing the ball off the glass and throwing down a reverse but it rolled around the rim and out. He settled for a less flashy but successful dunk on his third and final attempt as time expired, leading Johnson to win with his contest-clinching windmill slam.

“I beat the odds,” said Johnson, who went from an undrafted free agent to NBA role player. “I made it. I made it into the NBA. And I dreamed of, every year I was watching the NBA dunk contest, I dreamed of being out there putting on a show for everybody.”

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, along with Orlando Magic guard Jase Richardson, also competed in the dunk contest but were eliminated in the first round. Hayes said earlier Saturday that he wanted to embrace having fun and the opportunity to stun with a high-flying display.

“Something like this, you got to have fun with a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Hayes said. “So you got to just enjoy the moment. I’m gonna do some fun dunks.”

However, when the dunking began Saturday, Hayes grimaced as he completed his first attempt. The crowd groaned, and some even booed, as the 7-footer showcased a fairly standard one-handed dunk. The 25-year-old laughed off the results as a pained truth of now being in his seventh season in the NBA.

“These young guys got way more legs,” Hayes said. “I went up for my first dunk and I felt it right in my knees.”

Three-time dunk winner Mac McClung — currently on a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls — didn’t participate. He was the only competitor in history to have a perfect contest, scoring 50s from every judge on all of his dunks last year in San Francisco.

The judges were Julius Erving, fellow Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, Dwight Howard, Corey Maggette and Brent Barry.

DAME TIME AGAIN FROM LONG RANGE

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, out for the season with an Achilles injury, was as much of a surprise entrant into the 3-point contest field as could be. The 35-year-old guard hasn’t played a minute this season, returning to the Blazers – where he had spent the first 11 years of his career – in the offseason after a short two-year stint with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“For me, it means a lot,” Lillard said. “Just being able to get involved in some competition, feel a little bit of pressure, to do something that I haven’t been able to do all year.”

With the The Wall section of fans at the Intuit Dome holding up red umbrellas in a sign he was making it rain, Lillard comfortably advanced to the final round with 27 points, along with Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (30 points) and Charlotte Hornets rookie guard Kon Knueppel (27 points).

Knueppel turned cold to begin the final round, scoring just 17 points. And after Lillard one-upped himself, recording 29 points in the final round, it was up to Booker to try and match the 37.1% career long-range shooter.

Booker had reached 27 points, and faced a pair of corner 3s to try and tie or claim victory. He missed both, providing Lillard with the third 3-point contest victory of his career, matching Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird (1986-88) and former Chicago Bull Craig Hodges (1990-92) as the only players to accomplish the three-time feat. Lillard previously won in 2023 as a Blazer and 2024 as a Buck.

“At the end, I saw I was kind of at his mercy,” Lillard said of Booker, who won the event in 2018. “I was just like, man, he got a – these shots can’t go in. I need this one. It fell my way, and I got this third one.”

Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Denver’s Jamal Murray, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis and Miami’s Norman Powell rounded out the rest of the 3-point contest field, all falling in the first round.

Defending champion Tyler Herro (Miami) didn’t compete.

SPIKE AND THE SHOOTING STARS

For Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson and their legend teammate, Allan Houston, playing in front of Spike Lee at Madison Square Garden is common. Against the rest of the Shooting Stars field – in a contest where short-range shots and long-range shots are weighed at different values – Team Knicks comfortably took the title with a 38-point final round as the famed film director watched from a courtside seat in his New York bucket hat at the Intuit Dome.

Brunson’s father, Rick, a current Knicks assistant, served as the winning team’s “celebrity” passer.

Team Cameron, a team of former Duke stars including Knueppel, Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson and former NBA forward Corey Maggette, finished in second place with 38 points. When Towns, a Kentucky product, was asked about taking down a team of former Blue Devils to win, he threw back a simple statement in response.

“I think winning in general is always fun,” Towns said.

Ron Harper Jr., Dylan Harper and Ron Harper of Team Harper, along with Team All-Star’s Richard Hamilton, Chet Holmgren and Scottie Barnes were eliminated after the first round.

Shooting Stars returned to All-Star Saturday for the first time since 2015. The teams had 70 seconds to score points while rotating through seven designated shooting locations around the court, with all three players on a team shooting at each spot in a set order.