WATCH: Former Flyer Toppin flies high in NBA dunk contest; fans say he was robbed

Former Dayton forward edged by Portland’s Simon

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

One year to the day after he thrilled a sold-out UD Arena with a between-the-legs dunk, former Dayton Flyers star Obi Toppin brought it back in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

It was not enough to beat Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons in the finals. Simons showed off his vertical leap by trying to kiss in the rim on his final dunk. Although he did not actually kiss the rim, the judges still gave Simons the edge in a 3-2 vote.

Dayton fans thought Toppin was robbed by the judges. Toppin’s former teammate, Jalen Crutcher, wrote, “Wow” next to a thumbs down emoji on Twitter.

Toppin told reporters he didn’t feel he was robbed.

“Anfernee is a great dunker and got all three of his dunks on the first try,” Toppin said. “The second and third, I had to do it a second time. If I got it on my first, it would’ve been a different result. I don’t think I got robbed at all. He deserved that trophy.”

» RELATED: Toppin says being in dunk contest is a blessing

The dunk was contest was held at halftime of the NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta. Toppin reached the finals with two dunks. He first did a reverse dunk, bouncing the ball off the floor as he was in the air. He then did a windmill dunk while jumping over his dad, Obadiah Toppin, and New York Knicks teammate Julius Randle.

Toppin earned national attention for taking the ball between his legs before a dunk in his redshirt freshman season, and he repeated that dunk in his final college game on March 7, 2020.

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