"J-Rich's" Back to Back Successes

Jason Richardson / Keith Allison (Wikimedia Commons)

Jason Richardson, also known as “J-Rich” is among one of only five men to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest more than once in the 27 years that is has taken place. The former Golden State Warrior clinched the victory in February 2003 while withstanding great pressure from his competitors. Richardson's victory required extra innovation in order to top the behind-the-head two-handed windmill dunk that made him winner of the 2002 Slam Dunk Contest. 

For the 2003 competition, he brought out a powerful windmill off of a bounce dunk to outdo Amar’e Stoudemire’s nearly perfect score of 49. Richardson advanced to the final round with Desmond Mason who quickly became the crowd and judges favorite to win after executing a left handed under-the-leg dunk. J-Rich responded with a reverse between-the-leg, behind-the-head dunk to seal him a perfect score of 50 from the judges. Mason gave Richardson a run for his money throughout the contest though by keeping the score close and ended with 93 compared to Rich’s score of 96.

In 2005, an NBA.com poll qualified Richardson’s 2003 winning dunk as the number one dunk of all time. This acclaimed success placed the rising athlete above legends such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Spud Webb in the eyes of basketball fans around the globe. Richardson credited Gilbert Arenas in an NBA.com interview as the one who gave him the idea for the winning dunk that has been praised countless times. Interestingly enough, the first time that Richardson actually did it perfectly was in the Slam Dunk Contest itself.

Richardson had not always been so well known and he faced the task of distinguishing himself despite being a new player at the time. He was the fifth overall pick of the Golden State Warriors in the 2001 NBA Draft and became a Rookie Challenge MVP the following year. Despite his recognition, Richardson failed to meet expectations in 2003, averaging about 15 points per game. It is Jason Richardson’s body of work in the dunking arena; however, that has made him immortal in the NBA’s list of legendary dunking champions.