With his first dunk in the final round of the 2024 NBA Dunk Contest, Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown paid tribute to former Kentucky guard, the late Terrence Clarke. Clarke died in a car crash at age 19, months before the 2021 NBA Draft.
Brown donned Clarke’s No. 5 Brewster Academy jersey for the dunk, which he threw down on the first attempt in windmill fashion. Brown earned a 48.6 for his effort.
Brown and Clarke, who is from Boston, had developed a close relationship as the younger Clarke came up as a prospect while the elder guard played for the Boston Celtics.
Prior to his untimely death, Clarke was widely projected as a potential lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft after his lone year at Kentucky.
And while Brown ultimately came up short in the dunk contest to now repeat champion Mac McClung, he managed to pay tribute to a late friend on a big stage.
In earlier All Star weekend action, Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescua had a 3-point showdown
While it was certainly a more amicable showdown than the famed “Battle of the Sexes” between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs on a tennis court, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu both certainly wanted to win. A claim at being the best 3-point shooter in the world was on the line.
And ultimately, it was Curry coming out on top by a slim margin, 29-26.
The rules were similar to the basic NBA or WNBA All-Star 3-point shooting contest, with a few compromises. Ionescu shot with WNBA-sized basketballs, but did shoot from NBA range for 3; Curry shot NBA-sized basketballs and from the usual distance.
With the win, Curry took him a title belt and the honors of winning the inaugural showdown. Both players take home $25,000 to give to a charity of their choice.
The showdown came after Ionescu’s record-setting performance at the 2023 WNBA All Star 3-point contest, where she scored a record 37 points. It surpassed a record that Curry held and set at a prior NBA All Star weekend.
“Just go out there and do the best that I can. I’m obviously excited for this opportunity and hopefully can make more than I miss,” Ionescu said before the contest began.
Curry demurred on his opportunity to retake his record, but was happy to follow Ionescu in the shooting order.
“All I want to do is just have a good time, put on a great show. Like Sabrina gets to set the bar, I get to see what I can do,” Curry said on the TNT broadcast before either player went to shoot.
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