By Frankie Anetzberger

The Regular Season

Moon's season began in Milwaukee where he got his first playing time. He played 14 minutes and had one point off of a foul shot and brought down four rebounds. His next game was in Philadelphia where he recorded his first field goal and went 4-8 from the field with nine points and eight rebounds. More importantly Moon was left in at the end of the game and had to defend the 76ers rising star, Andre Iguodala. He had a clutch block on him late in the game that closed up a 105-103 win for the Raptors. One of the best highlights for his season came in his next game at Chicago. He played in the arena that his idol Scottie Pippen played in. He was told by Coach Sam Mitchell a couple minutes before the game started that he would be included in the starting lineup. He had a spectacular game not only on the offensive end but had a great defensive game. He held the Bulls star, Luol Deng, to one of his season lows with five points and he also had two blocks including one on Deng. He scored 12 points in 24 minutes of play and he would remain in the starting lineup for the rest of the year. His next game against the Utah Jazz was great as well as he scored a season high 15 points, at that time. Moon finished the season averaging 8.5 points per game, 1.2 assists, 6.2 rebounds, 0.65 turnovers, 1.4 blocks, 1.03 steals, and averaged 27.8 minutes per game. He shot 48% from the field, 32% from downtown, and 74% from the charity stripe. Jamario also started 75 games for the Raptors this season which broke their record for most starts by a rookie which was previously held by Damon Stoudamire with 70.

Season/Career Highs

Points – 17 Twice – Against Philadelphia and Orlando

Defensive Rebounds – 12 – Dallas on 11/20/07

Offensive Rebounds – 5 – Washington on 12/01/07

Total Rebounds – 15 – Denver on 3/28/08

Assists – 4 – Three Times - Phoenix, Orlando, and Minnesota

Steals – 5 – Atlanta on 1/18/08

Blocks – 6 – Chicago on 11/26/07

Minutes Played – 45 – Washington 3/07/08

The 2008 All-Star Weekend

Jamario was invited to both the Rookie/Sophomore game as well as the dunk contest during this year's All-Star weekend in New Orleans. He played 18 minutes in the Rookie/Sophomore game and had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and had some explosive dunks. The rookies however came up short in the end and the sophomores took the game 136-109.

In Moon's first season in the league his high flying ability and his emphatic dunks were recognized by everybody and he was selected to participate in the dunk contest. He would face tough competition though in Dwight Howard, Rudy Gay, and former dunk contest champion Gerald Green. His first dunk was an alley-oop 360 that he cranked back and received a 46. The second dunk Jamario brought out Jason Kapono and he put a piece of tape a little behind the free-throw line. Jamario had originally planned on just dunking it by himself but the rules stated he needed to use an assist man, so he used his second attempt to do so. The tape proved to be a little misleading for Jamario. He took off a little inside of the free-throw line and slammed it with his left hand and scored a 44 on the dunk. Jamario had made a preview of the dunk and can be seen on YouTube where he took off behind the free-throw line and dunked it. Although Jamario showed an impressive attempt on both dunks he came up short and ended up finishing third behind Dwight Howard and Gerald Green. Dwight Howard would go on to win the contest with his well known "Superman" dunk. Hopefully, with enough support, Jamario can return to the dunk contest next year and defeat the competition.

2008 Post Season

Coach Sam Mitchell did not start Moon for the first two games against Orlando and started Andrea Bargnani to match up with Hedo Turkoglu. In the first game Jamario played five minutes and had one rebound. In the second game he played 22 minutes and had three points and six rebounds. Sam Mitchell decided to start Jamario in the third game and he had his best game of the playoffs. He had 11 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, one block, and one steal in 33 minutes. The fourth and unfortunately the last Raptors game of the season Jamario played 19 minutes and had 5 points and 4 rebounds. Jamario averaged 5.4 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, and 1.2 steals per game in the post season.

Next Season

Jamario signed a two-year contract in the beginning of the year with the second year being an option to the Raptors. He made the league's minimum this year and the second year's amount was disclosed. The Raptors do have the option of resigning Jamario during this year's off-season. The Raptors stressed the issue of rebounding and Jamario brought a lot of rebounding to the team this season. Jamario also loves the city of Toronto so I would look for the Raptors to resign him in the off-season.

NBA.com Interview - February 4th, 2008 

After being passed up in the 2001 Draft, Jamario Moon went on to play for a plethora of different teams in various leagues. Finally finding a home in the NBA with Toronto, Moon has had a breakout rookie season averaging 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds, good enough to reserve himself a spot week after week in Dave McMenamin's Rookie Rankings. Describing the NBA experience as a "dream come true," Moon discussed his excitement about being selected to be a participant in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend with NBA.com.

NBA.com: Do you have any ideas for the dunks you are going to do in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest?
Jamario Moon: I already have it together.

NBA.com: Rudy Gay is asking the fans for their ideas, where did you get your ideas from?
Jamario Moon: I got a couple of them from Juan Dixon and I got a couple of them from Coach (Jay) Triano.

NBA.com: How are you preparing?
Jamario Moon: I am just taking ideas from my teammates and my friends and just to take all their ideas and create my own dunks out of it.

NBA.com: In the past you have been on many different teams and in many different leagues, how does it feel to be playing well in the NBA and to be participating in All-Star weekend?
Jamario Moon: It is a dream come true. It is like I am living in a movie. So I am just trying to keep doing what I am doing and make the movie better.

NBA.com: In any of the past leagues you have played in, did you ever participate in a dunk contest?
Jamario Moon: This past season in the CBA I participated in a dunk contest, I can't tell you (what dunk) because I might try to do the same thing. You won't find it. I am sure it won't be on YouTube or anything else.

NBA.com: What is your favorite dunk of all time?
Jamario Moon: My favorite dunk would have to be the reverse 360 windmill that Vince did when he was in the Dunk Contest. It was just something different and he added his own little flair to it.

NBA.com: Who do you think will be your toughest competition this year?
Jamario Moon: I am thinking all of them are going to be tough. I can't single one out because all of the guys can fly. I am thinking all three of the contestants are going to be tough. I just got to go in and stick to what I am doing and try to finish all my dunks.

NBA.com: Did you watch Gerald Green in the Dunk Contest last year?
Jamario Moon: Yes, I watched. He did some nice stuff in the Dunk Contest, that is why I know it is going to be tough. And I saw what Dwight did too.

NBA.com: Which dunk last year was your favorite?
I would probably say the one that Green threw off the side of the backboard and dunked.

NBA.com: Does the fact that you are the only rookie in the competition give you added motivation?
Jamario Moon: It is honor to be going first of all but to be the only rookie selected to go that is just a plus, an added plus.

NBA.com: Do you have a dunk that you have done in a past game in either your professional or amateur career that you specifically remember?
Jamario Moon: It would have to be when I played in the CBA, I played with another guard named TJ Thompson, he threw me this pass off the backboard in transition with three or four of the opposing team's players in the lane and he threw it off the backboard and I finish over the top of everybody.

NBA.com: Do you remember the first time you ever dunked?
Jamario Moon: It was in the seventh grade. It was actually the first time I ever dunked in a basketball game. It was seventh grade. We won all our games then.

NBA.com: In your practice video you dunked from well beyond the free throw line. What is the furthest you ever dunked from?
Jamario Moon: That is about it. I don’t think too many people can come from too far beyond the free throw line.

NBA.com: Also in your practice video you turn the video camera down on the last dunk so it cannot be viewed by the audience. Can you give me any hints about that last dunk?
Jamario Moon: I am not going to tell you about any of them. I am going to let it be a surprise for everybody and maybe you will text your vote in for me.