Obi Toppin feels the love from Dayton Flyers fans during Slam Dunk Contest

Obi Toppin returned to Ohio last summer to put on a youth basketball camp in Beavercreek. He came back to UD Arena in January to see his old team, the Dayton Flyers, play. He’s from New York City and now plays there for the New York Knicks but has never forgotten the state he called home for the three years.

After winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night in Cleveland, Toppin was asked, “Is it a little bit cooler to have won it here in Cleveland?

“Of course,” Toppin said. “Dayton is, like, 2½, three hours away. I know there was a lot of Dayton fans in there — New York and Dayton fans. I appreciate you all coming out. Yeah, Dayton fans, Ohio fans, they’re amazing. They show a lot of love. Definitely heard them today. They definitely came by. It means a lot for me to do it in Ohio for sure. This is like my second home.”

Toppin redshirted as a freshman in the 2017-18 season and then played two seasons for the Flyers. He ranks 40th in career scoring with 1,096 points.

Another player with a local connection participated in the 3-Point Contest on Saturday. Franklin High School graduate Luke Kennard, who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, made it to the finals before losing to Karl-Anthony Towns, of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“It’s been awesome, man,” Kennard said. “To be back home in Ohio, you know, just to be around my family and friends, and I see a lot of familiar faces around, so it’s been a lot of fun. It’s my first time experiencing any of this, so I dreamed about it when I was a kid, grew up watching all these. And I joked around about how I’m not going to be in the Dunk Contest any time soon, but I’m just excited — I’m excited to continue to work on this and hopefully get back to it in the next coming years.”

After finishing second in the Dunk Contest last year, Toppin became the first former Atlantic 10 Conference player and first Flyer to win the contest, beating Juan Toscano-Anderson, of the Golden State Warriors in the final.

“It means a lot,” Toppin said. “As you all know, my dad (Obadiah Toppin) right back here, used to be a dunker. So for me to win this, I knew I had to come back for my revenge from last year, and I had fun doing it. And we had a lot of great dunkers here today. I’m glad I came out with the W.”

Explore» PHOTOS: Toppin in Slam Dunk Contest

On his winning dunk, Toppin took the ball between his legs while in the air and then touched the backboard with the ball before finishing the slam.

“I wanted to get it on the third dunk, but I ended up missing it and going off the backboard between the legs,” Toppin said. “I knew going back to the last dunk, I knew I was going to pull it out and get it on the first try because I knew what I was doing wrong. But I’m glad I made it that time.”

This was the first Dunk Contest held in Cleveland since 1997 when Kobe Bryant was the winner.

“It feels amazing,” Toppin said. “There’s been a lot of legends that have won the Dunk Contest, and for my name to be a part of that is something special. I don’t take it for granted.”

Toppin and Toscano-Anderson advanced to the finals in a four-player field that also included Cole Anthony, of the Orlando Magic, and Houston Rockets rookie Jalen Green.

“All of those guys are great dunkers,” Toppin said. “We’re all cool people, so we were talking before the Dunk Contest. We knew we just wanted to go out there, put on a show and have fun. I feel like that’s what all of us did. We were encouraging everyone when we were out there, trying to get the crowd riled up.

“When Cole missed those two first ones with the (Timberland boots) on, I was, like, nah, them Timbs, them heavy, so we got to boost his energy up. I was trying to get everybody on their feet for him doing that. But everyone had great dunks, and we had fun today.”