Terrence Ross Soars Over the BFT

February 19, 2013, 2:35 pm

From his beginnings in as a player for Portland’s Jefferson High School, the Toronto Raptors’ rookie Terrence Ross has risen to new heights – literally. This last weekend, the former Washington Husky emerged from the NBA’s All-Star Weekend a champion, having won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night. Ross joined the BFT on Tuesday to talk about the contest and his time in the NBA so far.

Right away, Ross expressed that growing up he never really envisioned himself competing in the All-Star game, as well the overwhelming and surreal feeling of now being associated with the likes of Michael Jordan after winning the competition. He also said that his favorite dunker growing up was former Raptor Vince Carter, to whom Ross paid tribute by donning Carter’s old jersey for one of his dunks on Saturday night.

“He made it look so easy, like a video game,” Ross said of Carter’s dunking ability. “We don’t have too many dunkers like that – that were guards – that could do things like he did.”

Ross went on to talk about how much preparation went in to competing in the dunk contest, highlighting the advisement he received from former participants on the strategy of which dunks to do and the order in which to execute them. When asked about which dunk was the most difficult to learn leading up to the contest last Saturday, Ross said that the first dunk he executed – which involved passing the ball to himself behind his back in mid-air – was the hardest.

“That was the last dunk I was doing consistently,” Ross explained.

One stipulation in the dunk contest is that all competitors who advance must complete a dunk with the aid of a partner. For his partner, Ross selected former Jefferson high teammate and fellow NBA rookie Terrence Jones, who was drafted in 2012 by the Houston Rockets.

“I always told Terrence [Jones] that if I ever made it to a dunk contest, there’d be no question I’d bring [him] out,” said Ross. “For him to actually be out there and us going through so much together, it’s unbelievable.”

To listen to the entire interview, click below:

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