A couple of days before Barack Obama became the nation's first black president, Rudy Fernandez became the first non-US born player to participate in the NBA's dunk contest.
That's 90 players in 23 years (no contests in '98 or '99) since 1984, folks. It's not like foreigners can't dunk - here's ample evidence of the aerials arts being practiced in the Euroleague. And in the NBA, there have been a few foreigner players with the ability to open bomb bay doors over rims or do nasty things in the air (e.g. Mikeal Pietrus, Manu Ginobli, Nene, Sarunas Marciulionis (look at the number six here), but none of them - save Ginobili - were ever popular enough league-wide to be voted into the dunk contest. And while Ginobili is a nice dunker, he's more known for being an acrobatic lay-up maestro than a devil-possessed ball detonator.
Fernandez came into the league with a reputation for doing R-rated things to the rim and, so far, he hasn't disappointed. An extremely popular player in Spain (where he played with Ricky Rubio for DKV Joventut last year and was the national team's most explosive perimeter threat), the weed-thin Iberian has also generated a legion of American fans with this bouncy exploits.
And so when the final spot of the four-person dunk contest came down to fan voting, Fernandez got in on the strength of 500,000 strong.
And so, without further adieu, in honor of the wicked, wicked wonders Rudy works whilst in air, here's a sample of his finest dunkmanship:
The 23-year-old guard was selected through an online vote by more than 500,000 fans at the league's website, putting Fernandez into the four-man event on February 14 at Phoenix, where the All-Star Game will be played the next day.
Fernandez will join defending dunk champion Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson and Memphis forward Rudy Gay. Robinson won the 2006 competition and Gay competed in last year's event.
This was the first time NBA fans had a chance to select a participant. Others in the event had been named by the league.
Fernandez received 251,868 votes with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook next at 147,279 and Milwaukee's Joe Alexander third on 114,963 in a competition between NBA newcomers.
Fans will have the final say in the winner of the event by casting votes by text message or at the NBA website.
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