Taipei Times
Date: Jan 22, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Fubon Braves forward Tsai Wei, a last-minute replacement, yesterday beat out tough competition to win
the Super Basketball League’s (SBL) All-Star Game slam dunk contest at New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang Gymnasium.
Tsai thanked Fubon teammate Joseph Lin, younger brother of injury-plagued Jeremy Lin of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, for serving balls courtside during the competition.
Winning on points from successful tries, including a high-flying one-handed dunk and a reverse jam, 1.9m Tsai defeated Pauian Archiland forward Wang Lu-chih in the event’s final.
Tsai collected NT$20,000 in award money and was crowned Slam Dunk Champion, which surprised even his coach and Fubon teammates.
He did not plan on entering the contest, but was persuaded at the last minute to replace Taiwanese-American T.J. Burke, who was injured in training on Friday.
In the first round of the competition, Tsai and Wang eliminated challengers Kuo Shao-chieh of Bank of Taiwan and Huang Tsung-han of Taiwan Beer respectively.
“Most people, myself included, thought Kuo Shao-chieh had the best chance to win it, because he has good skills,” Tsai said. [FULL STORY]