Jase Richardson aims to make his own legacy after the Dunk Contest

The NBA's intro video for Jase Richardson laid the stakes clear for the rookie guard as he stepped into the Dunk Contest.

In NBC's made-for-Hollywood intro videos for the Dunk Contest, the idea was simple: This was a sequel.

Richardson made it very clear in the run-up to the contest that he was not the best dunker in the family. Certainly not as flashy and grand as his father, a two-time Dunk Contest champion who had plenty of highlight-reel dunks throughout his career.

Jase Richardson's highlight package not only included all four of his dunks this season, but also a few that he missed (carefully edited to avoid showing that he missed the attempts or was fouled on them).

Richardson was just trying to do his legacy proud and live the dream. And then begin to carve his own path forward.

Officially, Richardson finished in last place. But nobody felt that way about his performance.

Richardson paid homage to his father with his first dunk and then attempted a difficult 360 alley-oop with his second, falling hard on his back during his 90-second allotment and opting to do a backup dunk that knocked points off his score.

It was not a winning performance -- the two finalists were the Miami Heat's Keshad Johnson and the San Antonio Spurs' Carter Bryant, and they were both clearly the better dunkers on the evening. But it was a good showing for the rookie as he continues to establish himself in the NBA.

Richardson acquitted himself well and kept his legacy.

"It's been great," Richardson said after the Dunk Contest on Saturday. "This is my first All-Star Weekend. I've really enjoyed it. Energy was great. LA was really good. This is something I have always imagined being a part of. I'm just blessed to be here."

With the Dunk Contest behind him, Richardson is working ot make his own mark.

An ambitious showing

Jase Richardson's two dunks were both ambitious and displayed the 6-foot-1 guard's athleticism and leaping ability.

He started his first dunk by tossing the ball to himself and throwing a reverse jam. He had impressive lift and nailed the dunk on his first try.

The first two dunkers, though, got seemingly lower-than-expected scores. Richardson's dunk got an average score of 45.4 as the judges tried to set a difficult baseline. That seemed to be thrown out the window as the competitors went on -- Jaxson Hayes got a 44.6 for a dunk that was basically a simple jam from several steps inside the free-throw line.

Either way, Richardson knew he needed his best dunk on his second attempt.

But he never completed that second dunk. Or, at least, not the dunk he wanted to complete.

Richardson had an ambitious idea, having one of his dunk coaches throw the ball off the side of the backboard while he did a 360 to catch and throw it down.

He failed on his first attempt. On a subsequent attempt, his arm got caught on the backboard, causing him to fall squarely on his back.

He stayed down for a little while, but got up in time to attempt a third dunk, abandoning his plan and going with a simple 360 to get a dunk on the board.

That dunk got him a score of only 43.4, the lowest of the first round. And that eliminated him from the competition.

The most important thing is that Richardson is OK and was not worse for wear from his scary fall. The other part is that Richardson was taking it all in stride.

Richardson has been good-natured about the whole experience. He likely knows he has not done a lot of dunking this season. He certainly got a fair amount of ribbing from teammate Noah Penda, who was in Los Angeles for All-Star Weekend.

Making his own name

Jase Richardson will not be bringing the trophy home to join his father's collection. That part of the legacy will have to wait.

The biggest piece of advice he said his father gave him was to have fun with the event. That certainly seemed to be the case for Richardson despite the early exit from the competition.

But Richardson is still trying to make his own mark.

"I'm trying to steer away from that," Richardson said after the Dunk Contest. "I just wanted to do the contest and make it my own thing instead of everything having to do with my father. I just wanted to come out here and have a good time. I did. That's all that matters."

There was no donning of his father's old Golden State Warriors -- or Orlando Magic -- jersey. His first dunk was something of a call back to one of his father's old dunks, but Richardson has been working to make his own name.

It has been a bit of an up-and-down season for him.

The rookie, taken 25th in the Draft, has struggled to get consistent playing time with the Magic. He is averaging 5.1 points per game in 12.1 minutes per game with 39 appearances in the Magic's first 53 games.

The younger Richardson is a very different player than his father, who was a 6-foot-6 wing. Jase is a smaller scoring guard. His bursts of athleticism make him special, but so too does his jump shooting.

The Magic are still eager to see him develop and grow as a playmaker and scorer. They have already seen what his scoring burst can do.

The Dunk Contest was a surprise for him. He merely threw his hat into the ring.

"This isn't really something I was expecting to do anyway," Richardson said after the Dunk Contest. "It's hard to choose what dunk you can do, especially given that some people are already doing one of the dunks you already have in store. It's kind of hard for me to select."

He said he had some more dunks between his legs planned for the final round that he did not get to.

But Jase Richardson acquitted himself well -- there were no Darrell Armstrong layups like in 1996. Hopefully next year he will return to All-Star Weekend in Phoenix as part of the Rising Stars game.

Richardson now can focus on building his own name on the court.