Obi Toppin’s latest between-the-legs dunk is best yet

A between-the-legs dunk he first showed with the Dayton Flyers almost four years ago continues to be the signature move for Obi Toppin.

Toppin, now in his third season with the New York Knicks, took the ball between his legs while in the air on a fast break and dunked on Friday night at Madison Square Garden in a 131-114 exhibition victory against the Indiana Pacers.

“I’ve seen a lot of great dunks,” teammate Immanuel Quickley told reporters, “but that was ridiculous.”

Toppin scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting in 24 minutes in the Knicks’ season preseason game.

The dunk was a bit different than Toppin’s previous between-the-legs dunks because there was a defender, T.J. McConnell, in the vicinity. McConnell swiped at the ball as Toppin jumped in the air.

Toppin said he didn’t see McConnell until he was in the air.

“I’m like, sheesh, ‘I hope you don’t hit this ball,’” Toppin told reporters. “I was able to make it and that’s all that matters. If I do it, I’ve got to make it. There’s no missing.”

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Toppin first showed fans the between-the-legs dunk in his first season on the court as a redshirt freshman with Dayton. He did it on Dec. 29, 2018, in a 94-90 victory against Georgia Southern at UD Arena. A Dayton Daily News video of the dunk received more than 400,000 views in the next 24 hours.

Toppin scored 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting in that game. He said then it was “for sure” his greatest dunk, but he might not attempt such a dunk again in a close game after coach Anthony Grant talked to him. Dayton led by 11 after the dunk, but Georgia Southern trimmed the deficit to one point twice in the final three minutes.

“He said make sure the next time you look at the clock and see the situation we were in,” Toppin said. “I didn’t even know it was a close game. He just said be mindful of the score and the time.”

Toppin pulled out the dunk again in his last college game on March 7, 2020. It came during a sequence of three dunks in an 82-second span late in a game against George Washington at UD Arena. It was the second-to-last dunk of a school-record 190 career dunks over two seasons.

Toppin brought the dunk back for his first appearance in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2021 but finished second. He won the contest in his second attempt last February. He’s done the dunk in regular-season games, too. There was one on the Knicks’ Christmas Day game last season.

Toppin increase his scoring average from 4.1 points per game as a rookie to 9.0 in his second season. He played 17.1 minutes per game this season after averaging 11.0 minutes as a rookie. There are still question marks going into this season about whether he will play a bigger role. Toppin hopes improved play on defense will keep him on the court.

“I’ve worked really hard on my defense this year, guarding different positions, not only fours and fives but guards, too,” Toppin said. “I’m going to continue working on that and get better throughout the season.”