To the surprise of not many, Blake Griffin won the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest earlier tonight, and pretty much had it all wrapped up before they even rolled out the choir and the KIA for good measure. What was a bit of a shock though, was that while final round competitor, Javale McGee, was breaking out a new shoe for every dunk, Blake remained in a red/black Nike Air Max Fly By throughout – not the Hyperdunk 2011 PE that he was expected to debut for the Slam Dunk festivities. Playing up the “10.0” earthquake concept which ties into the perfect 10 dunk score, Nike had an eye-catching glow in the dark red/grey/black PE version of the still unreleased Hyperdunk 2011 all ready for Griffin to show off tonight, but for some reason, the shoes never saw the floor.
That didn’t stop Blake from taking home the trophy, but man, would these have looked nice on his feet doing it. They might not have had their spotlight during All-Star Saturday Night, but you can check out what could have been after the jump, and we’ll let you know if there’s any word why they went unworn in the contest. For now, let’s cross our fingers that maybe they find their way onto the court tomorrow night during the third and final leg of the 2011 NBA All-Star Blake Griffin Weekend.