That couldn’t be farther from the truth this year, though. With the remarkable and awesome dunk, LaVine is now being compared to the dunks of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins.
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The game is headed to the fourth quarter, the only time players usually put any effort into stopping anyone in this spectacle that otherwise is all offence, all the time. The first two contestants are already forgotten. National Basketball Association fans will now follow their careers much closer and they brought excitement back to a once great event that has been missing something over the past few years.
Two dunk-offs were needed before LaVine, the second-year guard from UCLA who now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, emerged the victor with a 50 on a move in which he jumped from just inside the free-throw line, put the ball between his legs and dunked with his right hand.
LaVine and Gordon battled it out, even having to add a tie-breaker dunk off because they kept a tied score with ideal 50 point scores from the judges.
And while LaVine gets the “eventual” tag in front of his name for going on to defend his title by taking home some individual hardware, the escalating arms race created by Gordon brought back an intensity between two guys perhaps not seen since Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa went at it for the home run crown.
Gordon started out the night with a little bit of an awkward entrance (though not when compared to Will Barton’s Thriller-inspired zombie entrance), but nothing he did was awkward after that.
In the overtime period, Gordon is left with the dunks he discarded and without the advantage of Stuff – Orlando’s mascot. But Green executed the dunk to perfection, blowing out the lit candle with finesse to accompany a powerful finish.
Don’t get me wrong Zach LaVine had some incredible dunks that only he could execute.
And just for kicks and giggles, here’s the dunk at full speed, because you can never watch it enough. Still impressive, the judges gave Zach a 49, his only imperfect score of the night. Eventually LaVine came out on top with a between the legs dunk from almost the foul line, but many stood by Gordon and proclaimed him the victor. As Stuff spun in a slow circle on a hoverboard while holding up the ball, Gordon took a running start, grabbed the ball and spun in a flawless circle while paying homage to Karl Malone by holding his hand behind his head. His final dunk, which scored a 47, would have won the contest in any number of previous years. And then he used Elfrid Payton as prop to get the ball to hit the side of the backboard so he can throw it down with a double clutch reverse.
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Gordon’s early dunks were huge, as he utilized the Magic’s mascot (which is in now way Magic) as a tool for him to leap over.
