Getty Juan Toscano-Anderson of the Golden State Warriors dunks over teammate Andrew Wiggins during the Slam Dunk Contest of the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland.
Juan Toscano-Anderson was hyped to be making the trip to Cleveland for the Slam Dunk Contest on February 19. The 28-year-old shooting guard and small forward is the first Golden State Warrior to be in the contest since Harrison Barnes back in 2014.
JTA has always shown how blessed he feels to be in the league. Toscano-Anderson, who is Black and Mexican-American, started his professional basketball career in Venezuelan and Mexican leagues before he earned a spot with the Santa Cruz Warriors and eventually Golden State. After he touched down in Cleveland for the All-Star game, he tweeted a shoutout to east Oakland, the area where he grew up.
I’m from east Oakland, and I’m at all star weekend. Apart of it tho….. tf
Donning the Warriors Mexican Heritage Night jersey, Toscano-Anderson dunked his way into the final round before failing to execute iconic dunks from Vince Carter and Warriors favorite Jason Richardson.
After the contest, JTA got a surprise call from the dunk champion J-Rich himself. Richardson praised the Marquette product for how he always represented Oakland in his conduct on and off the court.
J-Rich showed JTA love after the Dunk Contest 🤝
“I appreciate that man. I apologize I didn’t convert that last dunk, man,” Toscano-Anderson told Richardson. Had he replicated the dunk, it would have given JTA a chance at the title.
Richardson was all love and admitted that the iconic dunk was something he had trouble figuring out himself.
“Hey, it’s a hard dunk bro. I did it one time and that was in the dunk contest,” he said.
The dunk both are referring to was this iconic baseline between the legs dunk that was absolutely breathtaking. The dunk cemented Richardson as the 2003 Dunk Champion and even had Michael Jordan smiling.
Toscano-Anderson Talked About Representing His Mexican Heritage
Like his Oakland pride, JTA has always made it a point to show off his Mexican heritage. Becoming only the fifth Mexican-American player in the NBA, Toscano-Anderson said he feels he has a responsibility to do that.
“It’s always important to me,” Toscano-Anderson said after the dunk contest. “Just because that’s half of who I am and also that’s where my career started. That league gave me a chance, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t play in that league so that was just my way of saying thank you to that league and to the people that helped me there, and also just putting my heritage on the platform. This is the biggest platform in sports, I feel, after the Super Bowl and NBA Finals.”
There’s a reason that JTA is considered a fan favorite amongst the Warrior faithful. He grew up in Oakland and as a Warrior fan, so many fans especially of Hispanic background probably feel a great sense of pride seeing Toscano-Anderson representing their favorite team.
JTA Has a Fan in an NBA Superstar
Toscano-Anderson played four years at Marquette from 2011 to 2015, and he seems to have a supporter in superstar guard Jimmy Butler. Butler attended Marquette for three years, and while Butler’s time there did not overlap with JTA, both seemed to bond over their pride with their alma mater.
During Media Day, Butler told the media how he was rooting for Toscano-Anderson, especially with the Dubs forward’s unorthodox path to the league.
“Juan he’s the young, athletic big guard from Marquette, so I gotta root for him here,” Butler said. “I’m actually super happy and proud of him, where he’s come from, the journey he’s taken to get to this point in the league and to be in the dunk contest. That’s big for my guy.”
Clearly, Butler has a soft spot for unproved guys earning a spot in the league. Drafted 30th overall himself in 2011, Butler has had to scratch and claw his way to carve a role in the Chicago Bulls’ rotation, before proving that he was a bona fide two-way superstar.
JTA probably won’t become a superstar, but simply making it into the league and having a respectable role in the rotation may be a dream come true.