A look back to when Kobe Bryant won the dunk contest as an 18-year-old rookie
Bryant was one of six dunkers in the contest, including Ray Allen. As a not-yet-hoarse Doc Rivers said on the broadcast, Bryant wasn't anyone's favorite to win.
The judges that year included Lisa Leslie, who was the first woman to ever judge the Dunk Contest.
Here's Kobe's first dunk:
His second misses. The broadcasters joke that he should be rewarded for the ball landing in the stands.
Kobe's third and final dunk of the first round looked Michael Jordan-esque.
Some things never change:
Ray Allen will never be remembered for his dunks, but they weren't half-bad:
Bryant's overall score for the three dunks put him through to the final round:
For the finals, he got rid of his shooting shirt and even tucked in his jersey:
Let's check in on KG:
Here's the dunk that effectively won Kobe the contest. The judges gave it a 49 out of 50. Not bad for an 18-year-old!
Let's watch it one more time:
A decent celebration:
And check out his face as he walks to the bench afterwards. Look familiar?
He missed his second dunk of the final, but just barely:
And he wasn't too happy about it. His reaction here looks familiar, too.
Chris Carr's second dunk of the final was solid, but nobody's best overall score could touch Kobe's 49.
Craig Sager had the first words with Kobe after he won. Notice how conservative Sager's suit is.
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