LOS ANGELES — With a gospel choir at midcourt encouraging him to fly, Blake Griffin soared over a car and threw down a two-handed dunk.

The rookie’s remarkable leap won the slam dunk contest, and it also drove home the clear point of All-Star Saturday: The Clippers’ rising star is just at the beginning of one thrilling ride.

Griffin easily cleared the hood of the 2011 Kia Optima and caught a pass from teammate Baron Davis out of the sunroof while the berobed Crenshaw Select Choir sang “I Believe I Can Fly,” winning the 26th NBA dunk contest in iconic style before his hometown fans.

“There’s a little pressure on us to really put on a show, but I thought those guys all did a great job,” said Griffin, who beat Washington’s Javale McGee in the final.

Griffin grew up watching and rewatching every dunk contest on videotape with his brother in Oklahoma, studying the event’s evolution. He said the car dunk was his idea from the very start — a perfect way to show off his combination of raw athleticism and Hollywood flair.

“When they first came to me … they said there were no rules,” Griffin said. “I was like, ‘So I can jump over a car? Yeah? Oh, maybe I have to do it now.’ I figured I could probably clear it, and Baron came up with the choir.”

The move could have petrified the Clippers, with the star-crossed franchise’s epic history of bad luck — even with Griffin, who missed all of last season after breaking his kneecap in the final preseason game before what was supposed to be the No. 1 pick’s rookie campaign.

Griffin has become internationally famous for his incredible dunks, but a leap over a car? Sounds like a Clipper Curse moment just waiting to happen.

Clippers owner Donald Sterling was in attendance, perhaps watching between the fingers of the hand over his eyes.

“I could have clipped my foot, I guess,” Griffin said. “That’s what I was afraid of — just clip my foot on the side and smash my face into the car. Fortunately, it worked out.”

Earlier, Miami’s James Jones held off Boston teammates Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to win his first three-point shootout, and Golden State’s Stephen Curry won the Skills Challenge.

But Saturday was all about Griffin, who started the contest with a 360-degree spin dunk before converting a bounce pass off the side of the backboard to finish the first round.

The first rookie All-Star in eight years then brought back an impossibly difficult favorite with his first dunk of the final, sticking his arm into the hoop and hanging from it by his elbow, just as Vince Carter did while winning the 2000 contest.