It's not all luck, though.
David Murrell of the Converge FiberXers is PBA's new dunk king after he edged out Tyrus Hill of the Blackwater Bossing in the final of the PBA Slam Dunk Competition on Friday.
Murrell attributed his victory to what he calls his “lucky shoes.”
“These are shoes that I always wear them out to like a special event so like my first PBA game, first All-Star game,” said Murrell. “So, back home I had everyone sign my shoes—my dad, my mom, all of my friends, and everyone who supported me during this journey.”
Murrell and Hill advanced to the final of the event after scoring 92 points apiece in the first round, thereby eliminating Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser of the NLEX Road Warriors and Chris Lalata of the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters. Lalata's teammate, Encho Serrano, was earlier reported to be a late addition to the dunk cast, but was ultimately scratched from the list.
In the final, the Converge forward took the lead after the first dunk with a score of 46. Hill only scored 41 in his first try.
But the Blackwater swingman definitely made it difficult for Murrell after getting a perfect 50 from the judges in his second dunk.
Needing a score of 46 to win the event, Murrell did just that with a clean 360 windmill slam.
After the victory, Murrell admitted that he thought Hill had sealed the deal after jumping over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's Jaime Malonzo for his first dunk in the final.
“To be honest, I thought Tyrus had it. That's why I was like I gotta come out with something better, but I obviously did better so [I’m] just happy,” said Murrell.
Fans will certainly look forward to seeing Murrell play more minutes in the PBA Governors' Cup and beyond.