The Minnesota Timberwolves rookie center beat Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas to win the Skills Challenge on Saturday night, further validating the evolution of the big man from a plodding post player to a playmaking force.
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The NBA added big men to the Skills Challenge this year and it added a fun new wrinkle to the event.
Gordon was close to ideal.
Gordon lit the place up with his next dunk, leaping over the mascot and then grabbing the ball from his head and jamming it one-handed through the rim.
But Gordon didn’t make it easy, as the two traded spectacular soaring dunks in the final round. Gordon caught it, double-pumped and finished with a reverse slam. Gordon had another flawless 50 as he went up and over his team’s mascot.
This national coming out party for Gordon is about more than a brotherly connection however. It also should get him invited back to next year’s dunk contest.
Gordon took the court wearing a suit, which he promptly ripped off, revealing a Magic jersey and shorts.
In SI.com’s opinion, the five judges-George Gervin, Dikembe Mutombo, Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady and Magic Johnson-ultimately crowned the proper champion.
It was an impressive dunk, but it wasn’t as impressive as LaVine’s. “I’m not going anywhere”. It looked effortless and intricate all at the same time.
Starting along the right baseline near the baseline, he threw it in the air, got the ball to bounce and tried a time a between-the-legs reverse dunk.
“I’m not interested”, Carter said after a Grizzlies shootaround at the Garden last week.
The guard is an up-and-coming player who has shown that he has a spot in the league. Bovada listed Thompson as the second choice at 9 to 2, and he’s looking forward to another chance at the NBA’s record holder for 3-pointers in a season.
His dad played college basketball, and his brother and sister, who are both older than he is, played college basketball, too.
When asked at Wednesday’s shootaround in Orlando who he was consulting on his dunk repertoire, Gordon named his sister as the chief adviser.
Khris Middleton (Bucks), Kyle Lowry (Raptors), JJ Redick (Clippers), CJ McCollum (Trail Blazers) replacing injured Chris Bosh, and rookie Devin Booker (Suns) who was draining threes regularly during the Rookie Game last night.
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Thompson made eight of his nine “moneyballs”, worth two points each, to finish with 27 points in the final round to Curry’s 23 and Booker’s 16.
