And1 Germany’s “Mr. Hangtime” wins German BBL All Star Game Dunk Contest in Empire Mids

[Streetball’s Finest  – 1.28.12] – And1 Germany’s “Mr. Hangtime” wins German BBL All Star Game Dunk Contest in Empire Mids

Inks: FLASH aka g_sk1lls 

Images: Salu Benjamin Tadi (Mr. Hangtime – via Facebook) and Laurent Burkart (And1 Germany Facebook fanpage) and Munich Times (via TMT Sports)

When I think of Eurobasket, my mind is immediately filled with images of long-range shooting bigs with excellent passing ability.  With that line of thought, my knowledge about German basketball is quite limited to Germany’s Finest, their premiere spot for everything streetball in that part of the world (shout-outs to Paul Gudde) and Dirk Nowitzki, the sweet-shooting forward for the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA (NBA Finals MVP 2011).  I haven’t really imagined a slam-dunking player from Deutscheland for that matter..so I consider myself schooled by Salu Benjamin Tadi (reppin’ And1 Germany as an official endorser since 2011).

Salu, as he is affectionately called in Germany, is also known as Mr. Hangtime.  He recently won the Beku BBL All Star Game Dunk Contest in a pair of And1 Empire Mids (Black/Gold) last January 21, 2012 in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart.  Competing in a field of 40 (yep, that’s forty dunkers right there), Mr. Hangtime bested 29 other amateurs and 10 professionals in this annual event (including his foremost rival, Tony Gaffney of Telekom Basket Bonn and a former player of the NBA’s Boston Celtics).  Check out the images and videos below: 

All Star Dunk Contest Winner 2012 Salu Benjamin Tadi from AND1 Germany on Vimeo.


Standing at just 6’1” and tipping the scales at a lean 207 lbs, this Munich-based high-flyer boasts of a 42-inch vert (I’d love to see him and Nate Robinson go at it in an international dunk off, seriously).  Salu is also no stranger to showcasing his amazing leaping ability, having already won the Red Bull Slam Dunk contest also in Germany last year.

When asked about his preparations for the 2012 BBL Dunk Contest, Salu replied via email “I trained 5-6 times a week (2 hours for fitness/weights) and 3-4 times a week playing basketball in nearby gyms (spending 2-3 hours with dunk practices.)”  He adds “..at the moment we are working on some special dunks like 360-degrees between the legs or dunking over a car.”

Big thanks to my contact, Laurent Burkart for the news and exclusive images through the And1 Germany Facebook page.  Laurent works for the Marketing and Sales team of And1 Germany and manages their social networking sites (And1 Germany in Facebook), as well as coordinating with team players while handling events, publicity and promotions.  Would also like to thank the Munich Times and TalkBasket.Net for additional details that I used for this article. 

Video courtesy of BekoBBL, shared by TalkBasket.Net

For feedback and suggestions, please send us an email at and1pinas@gmail.com.  Please also check out and LIKE our Facebook fanpage (www.facebook.com/and1ph) and follow us on Twitter (@and1ph).  We Flips show love to our global counterparts (hence the S/O to And1 Germany), but we also provide the latest updates about the And1 brand in the Philippines.  And that’s the 411, And Juan!

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!