San Miguel Beer’s Justin Williams bested David Palmer of Saigon Heat to be the first Asean Basketball League (ABL) slam dunk champion Saturday night at the Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
Williams, who made it to the finals of the event with a dunk with two balls and another one from almost the free throw line, claimed the crown with his windmill while wearing sunglasses. He scored 49 points for the effort against Palmer’s 48.
It is also Williams’ first slam dunk crown in his basketball career.
“It feels great to win the slam dunk crown. I’ve been through some rough times recently, but I am very happy to be with San Miguel Beer as they treat me like family,” Williams said.
The two bested Wuttipong Dasom (Chang Thailand Slammers), Moala Tautuaa (Westport Malaysia Dragons), Chris Daniels (Indonesia Warriors) and Delvin Goh (Singapore Slingers).
Last year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Leo Avenido could have made it a double for the night but lost out to Sheng Yun of the Singapore Slingers in the three-point shooting contest. Sheng fired away with 13 points to overshadow Avenido’s seven in the finals. /pr