Description
Obi Toppin is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of National Basketball Association (NBA). A power forward, he played college basketball for the Dayton Flyers. A native of New York City, Toppin was born in the borough of Brooklyn, and graduated from Ossining High School in New York. After receiving no NCAA Division I offers, he played a postgraduate season at Mt. Zion Preparatory School in Maryland. As a freshman with the Dayton Flyers, Toppin was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year after leading his team in scoring. He had breakout success in his sophomore season, earning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and National College Player of the Year honors. After his sophomore college season, Toppin declared for the 2020 NBA draft where he was selected with the eighth overall pick by the New York Knicks. Toppin was the winner of the 2022 NBA Slam Dunk Contest after being runner-up in the year prior.
On December 23, Toppin made his NBA debut, putting up nine points, three rebounds, and two blocks in 24 minutes, in a 107–121 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Toppin missed 10 games due to injury sustained in his NBA debut and returned on January 13, 2021 in a 109–116 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. As a rookie, he was invited to participate in the 2021 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and finished in 2nd place behind Anfernee Simons. During the 2021 NBA Playoffs, Toppin recorded 13 points on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting from the field in a Game 4 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
The following season, in his sophomore year, Toppin was the winner of the 2022 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, beating Juan Toscano-Anderson in the final round. On April 8, 2022, Toppin recorded a then-career-high 35 points and 2 steals, on 14-of-22 shooting from the field, and 6-of-9 from three, in a 114–92 win over the Washington Wizards. On April 10, two days later, he recorded his Knicks career high on an efficient 42 points, 10 rebounds and a block, shooting 16-of-28 from the field, 6-of-14 from three and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, in a 105–94 win over the Toronto Raptors.
During the final 5 games of the 2022–23 Knicks season, Toppin became a starter. On April 5, 2023, he tallied an impressive 32 points and 6 assists on 11-of-18 shooting from the field, 5-of-12 from three, and 5-of-5 from the free throw line in a win over the Indiana Pacers. Ironically, 4 days later, Toppin recorded 34 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, on 13-of-23 shooting from the field, 5-of-10 on three, and 3-of-3 on free throws in a loss to his future team, the Indiana Pacers. During the 2023 NBA Playoffs, Toppin became a starter in the second round due to an injured Julius Randle, and recorded a then playoff career-high 18 points and 8 rebounds on 7-of-15 shooting along with 4 threes made, in a Game 1 loss to the eventual Eastern Conference Champions Miami Heat.
On July 7th, 2023, Toppin was traded to the Indiana Pacers for two future second-round picks. On the Pacers, Toppin joined Jalen Smith, Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith and Jordan Nwora, all selected in the 2020 NBA draft. On October 25th, Toppin earned the starting power forward role with the Pacers, and tallied 11 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, and a steal in his debut, defeating the Washington Wizards. On November 6th, Toppin recorded 19 points and 2 steals, on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 on free throws, in a 41-point blowout win over rookie Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. On November 14, he recorded a season-high 27 points, 6 rebounds, and a block, on 12-of-15 shooting, in a 2023 in-season tournament win over Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers.
The featured New York Knicks Swingman Nike Jersey is signed by former Slam Dunk Champion Obi Toppin. The talented power forward has signed inside the back number “1” and added ‘Hometown Kid” in black. The jersey comes with a USA Sports Marketing Cert.
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