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Top 10 Moments Of Jason Richardson’s NBA Career

By Gerald Bourguet

Apr 8, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jason Richardson (23) shoots the ball before a game against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 8, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jason Richardson (23) shoots the ball before a game against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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3. The 2002 Slam Dunk Contest

At All-Star Weekend in 2002, Jason Richardson had already created quite a stir in the NBA Rookie Challenge a few days prior. But at the second most important event of All-Star Weekend, the rookie made even more headlines with a couple of unbelievable highlights in the Slam Dunk Contest.

For his first dunk, Richardson wowed the crowd with a 360 one-handed windmill that earned him a score of 48. On his second dunk, Richardson brought out teammate Gilbert Arenas, who jumped, put the ball between his legs and tossed it up to J-Rich, but he missed the windmill dunk, earning him a 31. Luckily, his first dunk was impressive enough to move him on.

For his third dunk, which had to be based on a Dominique Wilkins dunk based on what category he landed on with the Slam Dunk Contest wheel, J-Rich perfectly mimicked the Human Highlight Film’s high-rising windmill, getting eye level with the rim in the process.

Even with J-Rich having to replicate one of Nique’s dunks, the fact that Kenny Smith was declaring that the great Dominique Wilkins was back in the building spoke volumes about how great a performance it was. Any time you can draw that kind of praise from a former NBA player (and earn a perfect score of 50 in the process), you’re doing something right.

For his final dunk of the contest, J-Rich shut the arena down with a reverse two-handed windmill dunk off the bounce. With that dunk, Jason Richardson made sure the NBA world knew his name, earning him the first Slam Dunk title of his career.

Next: No. 2

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