Griffin Wanted To Jump Over Convertible, Not Kia, During Memorable Dunk Contest Moment

Clippers F Blake Griffin recently said he wanted to "jump over a convertible" during his winning appearance in the '11 Slam Dunk Contest, but the NBA mandated that it "had to be a Kia Optima." Appearing on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast, Griffin said, "I wanted to have Baron Davis and some of my teammates roll out in a convertible and then just toss it straight up and then jump over the whole thing instead of just the hood. I don’t know if you guys have stood next to a Kia Optima, but it is a pretty tall vehicle, and there was no way I was going to make it over the entire thing, over Baron Davis in the sunroof. So I opted for the hood, and then everyone was pissed that I jumped over the hood, like that was super easy. So it was just a lose-lose situation for me.” Kia has been the NBA's official automobile sponsor since '09 and has included Griffin in various marketing campaigns since the dunk contest. However, the birth of Griffin's son in '13 caused the automaker to question its endorser. He said, "I actually got an email asking about why I named my kid Ford. I was like, ‘It seems like a pretty common American name. It is not like I named him Hyundai or Toyota.’ So that was actually a thing I had to deal with" ("Pardon My Take," Barstool Sports, 6/6).