How former NBA player Iman Shumpert became an unlikely Dancing with the Stars champ

The Washington Post

Shumpert last night became the first former NBA player to not only reach the finals, but to win the Mirrorball Trophy. Many pro athletes have won Dancing before, but ABC executives didn't expect the 6-foot-5 Shumpert to go far. "When we were casting this season, we thought Iman was too tall to make it past the first few weeks but he would be so fun," tweeted ABC reality boss Robert Mills. "He’s proved me totally wrong." Shumpert, a non-dancer, also had tough competition in Jojo Siwa, a former star of Dance Moms. "However, the momentum started to slowly shift around the sixth week, when Shumpert and (partner Daniella) Karagach let loose with a jaw-dropping contemporary dance inspired by Jordan Peele’s horror film Us," says Emily Yahr. "The pair earned their first perfect score as the judges called it 'brilliant' and 'a masterpiece,' and the routine went viral on social media. Their notable height difference, with Shumpert standing at 6 feet 5 inches and Karagach nearly a foot shorter, meant they could accomplish many difficult lifts...After that, the judges warmed up to the pair even more, though they still weren’t the favorites. But it didn’t really matter: Fan votes count for a lot on Dancing With the Stars, and Shumpert and Karagach were so well-liked that they were never in the bottom two, so they were safe from the possibility of elimination. During last week’s semifinals, producers made sure to note Shumpert was the first former basketball player to make it that far in the competition."

ALSO:

• Iman Shumpert says Dancing with the Stars fame is unlike NBA fame: “I don’t think basketball is fame,” Shumpert tells the New York Post. “Basketball is more — I don’t know how to explain it. One fan cares about your wife, and another fan doesn’t. The other fan just cares if their team won. That’s the biggest difference for me. In basketball, it’s more so ‘Did you guys win? That determines if I like you till the next game’. With Dancing with the Stars people fall in love with your story. They fall in love with you as a person, as an individual. I think Dancing with the Stars has done a tremendous job of promoting me as a father and husband, and that’s one of the most relatable things in the world. The fame is more personal in this regard.”
• Fans credit Shumpert's victory to his wife, R&B singer/dancer/choreographer/director/producer and VH1 co-star Teyana Taylor
• While Dancing's finale topped Monday's ratings, it was down from last year's finale with 5.41 million viewers