CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Fil-Am high-flyer Jalen Green exceeded expectations and captured the 2018 Darlington NBTC Slam Dunk Contest on Friday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Green bested four other competitors including Justin Gutang of St. Benilde in the final, scoring a perfect 50 in all four dunks during the side event.
The 16-year-old sealed his victory with a 360-dunk off a pass to the side of the board from teammate Kihei Clark.
Judges Jeron Teng, former PBA cagers Danny Ildefonso and Kerby Raymundo, and UP Fighting Maroons Bright Akhuetie and Juan Gomez de Liaño unanimously gave Green the perfect 50 score as he ran away with the victory.
Green’s triumph was a fitting ending for his stint in the NBTC as the Fresno native captained Filam Sports USA to an Elite Eight finish, the highest finish for an international team in the 10-year history of the tournament.
Other competitors were reigning Slam Dunk king David Carlos, UP rookie David Murrell, and fellow Filam Sports player Elijah Jackson.
Green is considered as a solid NBA prospect as the San Joaquin Memorial High School sophomore is ranked number one by ESPN in its list of high school players in the Class of 2020.
He also represented the United States in the 2017 Fiba Americas Under-17 Championship last year.