FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 21, 2019 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 67
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Former Corona hoops star shines at NBA Slam-Dunk Contest
BY ZACHARY GEWELB
zgewelb@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens product Hamidou Diallo
has made quite an impression during
the NBA All-Star weekend in North
Carolina.
Th e Oklahoma City Th under rookie
guard won the Slam Dunk contest
Saturday at the Spectrum Center in
Charlotte with one of the more memorable
performances in recent years, sealing
his victory with an incredible dunk over
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal to dispatch
New York Knicks guard Dennis Smith Jr.
in the fi nal round.
“It was great,” Diallo said of winning
the competition. “Dennis stole my third
dunk. I was going to use D-Wade last.
Th at was my favorite player growing up.
But it all worked out.”
Wearing a Superman shirt underneath
his jersey to pay tribute to Shaq, Diallo
— a Corona native who starred for John
Bowne High School — threw down a
slam aft er jumping over the 7-foot-1 Hall
of Famer and then hung on the rim by
his elbow.
“Yeah, I was sure,” Diallo said of
whether he knew he could dunk over
O’Neal. “I wouldn’t have brought him
out there if I wasn’t sure.”
Diallo tallied 98 points — the highest
total in the fi rst round — notching
48 points on his fi rst dunk and 50 on his
second.
In the second round, he recorded
scores of 43 and 45 on his two dunks,
respectively, while Smith Jr. notched 35
and 50 points on his slams.
Diallo was selected by the Brooklyn
Nets with the 45th pick of the 2018 NBA
Draft , only to be shipped to Oklahoma
City in a draft night trade with the
Th under.
Diallo had originally considered declaring
for the 2017 draft before backing out
at the last moment. Aft er opting out of
the 2017 draft , Diallo focused all his energy
on improving his game at Kentucky
under head coach John Calipari.
Diallo, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, had
an up-and-down season for Kentucky,
shooting 33.8 percent from 3-point range
and converting just 61.6 percent of his
free-throw attempts. He spent much of
the spring semester stuck in a deep slump
that saw him fail to reach double digits in
points in 13 of Kentucky’s fi nal 16 games.
But it wasn’t all bad. He showed a
few glimpses of his potential down the
stretch, including a 22-point performance
on 9-of-12 shooting while playing
stellar defense in an NCAA Tournament
win over Buff alo.
In his high school days, Diallo helped
lead the 2016 USA Basketball Men’s
U18 National Team to a gold medal
at the 2016 International Basketball
Federation Americas U18 Championship
in Valdivia, Chile.
He scored 14 points in the fi nal game
of the tournament, a 99-84 win over
Canada, as Team USA fi nished with a
perfect 5-0 on the court against worldclass
competition.
Diallo is currently averaging 4.2 points
and 47 percent shooting in his rookie
campaign with the Th under.
Middle Village Girl Scout delivers bedtime kits to children in need
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Anna Lampman, a 13-year-old Girl
Scout from Middle Village, is working for
her Silver Award in a way that will continue
helping needy children by donating
a kit with various comfort items to help
them at bedtime.
Lampman’s eff orts began with asking
herself what items and routines are necessary
for her before gathering items from
the community which has rallied around
her cause as more than just a Silver Award
project.
“I thought about what comforts me at
night – a stuff ed animal, brushing my
teeth beforehand, reading a book and a
warm blanket – and I researched online
diff erent homeless shelters and what kids
need and it was comfort, so I thought it
was perfect,” Lampman said.
Since the drive is associated with the
Girl Scouts, monetary donations were not
allowed, but that has not been an obstacle
to Lampman.
Lampman began by speaking with her
principal about how the school could help
and fl yers were dispersed at Sacred Heart
Catholic Academy and the churches associated
with it.
“A lot of people have been hearing
about it, people like my neighbors and
families I’ve never met at the school have
been coming up to me to talking to me
about it, asking how they can donate,”
Lampman said. “As long as I keep getting
donations I’m going to keep doing it.”
Local dentists supplied toothpaste and
toothbrushes while the locals donated
either new or used blankets and stuff ed
animals.
Lampman has been donating since
before Christmas when she made a drop
off at a center in Long Island City.
Photo courtesy of the Lampman family
Anna Lampman delivers bedtime bags, kits with comfort items, to underprivileged children
for her Girl Scout Silver Award.
File photo/AP
Hamidou Diallo before he was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder
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