John “Helicopter” Humphrey wins bj-League (Japan) ASG Dunk Contest in And1 Empire Mids

[Streetball’s Finest  – 1.26.12] – John “Helicopter” Humphrey wins bj-League (Japan) ASG Dunk Contest in And1 Empire Mids

Inks: FLASH aka g_sk1lls 

Images: Joe Kawai (And1 Japan) and bj-League (via Facebook fanpage and official website)

Former And1 Mixtape sensation and current Saitama Broncos All Star John “Helicopter” Humphrey recently won the bj-League ASG Dunk Contest last January 15, 2012 at the Saitama Super Arena.  Rocking specially made And1 Empire Mids (Black/Green colorway), Helicopter electrified the crowd, numbering at 14,011, with an array of between-the-legs dunks and windmills to take home his first-ever slam dunk crown.

Helicopter receiving his dunk contest award (the girl is wearing a non-locally released And1 Sabotage Mid in Black/Yellow).

For those who are not familiar with the bj-League in Japan, it is their equivalent to our local PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) and is a professional basketball league established in the 2005-2006 season.  Helicopter went up against 5 other contestants namely: Ray Nixon (Shiga-Lakestars), Brian Harper(Toyama-Grouses), Justin Burrell (Yokohama B-Corsairs), Yoshihiro Tachibana (Sendai-89ers), and Edward Morris (Shinsyu-Brave Warriors).  Aside from Helicopter, two other contestants also wore And1s during the contest, Tachibana (Empire Mid, Black/Gold) and Morris (Tai-chi Mid, Black/Silver).

Humphrey garnered a masterful 50 points on his final round to edge his closest rival, Ray Nixon (who only managed 42 points).  Check out the video posted below for Helicopter’s performance and I’ve also included some more pictures of Helicopter’s Empire Mid kicks used during the ASG festivities.

It is also worth noting that Humphrey also played in the All Star Game after winning the dunk contest, and despite his East team losing to the West, (120-93 Final), he also took home the Most Impressive Player award, given to the best player of the losing team.  The high-flying forward scored 21 points and punctuated his performance with 2 slam dunks during the game.  He wore a different pair of Empire Mids this time around, switching to a Gold/Gold/Black CW, with “Helicopter” and “35” (Helicopter’s jersey number) etched on the each heel.  Peep the images below.

For more news about And1 both locally (Philippines) and internationally, check us out in Facebook (www.facebook.com/and1ph) and on Twitter (@and1ph).  Big thanks to Joe Kawai of And1 Japan (@and1_jp on Twitter) for the images and information that he passed along, and to the JapanTimes and Jumpshot.Sg sites for their own published articles which served as additional references for this blogpost.  

And that’s the 411, And Juan!