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| Aaron Gordon (left) and Zach LaVine (right) did dunks never seen before in the 2016 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest. |
On the eve of Valentine's Day two young NBA players did not mind spreading some love to the NBA fans at the Air Canada Centre during the main event of NBA All-Star Saturday night in Toronto.
The 2016 Verizon NBA Slam Dunk Contest featured: Will Barton, 2016 All-Star Andre Drummond, Aaron Gordon and last year's reigning dunk champ Zach LaVine.
The Dunk Contest has seen more anticlimactic moments than exciting ones since the contests early induction. The contest gained prominence because of the participation of all-time NBA greats in Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and many more. Though except for a few contests the All-Star Saturday's main-event has not received as much attention partly due to the decline in star players' participation.
After a few dunks the contest seemed to be looking as disappointing as several previous dunk contests in the twenty-first century after marginal dunks and a few misses by Barton and Drummond.
LaVine was a prohibitive favorite based on the performance he put on in last year's contest as reigning champion. The problem was LaVine needed competition and he found competition in the former collegiate standout at Arizona and a former member of the "Freshman Focus" Aaron Gordon.
Gordon put the pressure on LaVine with his between the legs dunk over Stuff the Magic Dragon his team's mascot who was standing on a hoverboard.
The antics did not stop there. LaVine and Gordon became the first contest participants to participate in multiple dunk offs in the same dunk contest.
Stuff the Magic Dragon would make his way to the finals with Gordon as he was a part of the most memorable dunk of the night. Gordon performed a under the legs dunk jumping laterally over the dragon as he simultaneously grabbed the ball off the mascot's head and finished with a tomahawk dunk.
LaVine did not disappoint either. He matched his challenger stride for stride and dunk for dunk. His night was defined by a trio of free throw line dunks. LaVine caught an alley-oop from the free-throw line, did a windmill and won the contest by putting the ball between his legs as he glided from the charity stripe.
The dunk ensemble performed by each player can't even be found on a dunk package on 2K. All of the dunks performed have never been seen before nor have players tried to attempt the dunks before. The contest got to the point where both dunkers were just improvising because both dunkers ran out of ideas.
LaVine had to earn this victory though many still believe Gordon should've won despite LaVine's impressive showing as well. Only one word can sum up the showdown and it's rematch.
LaVine vs Gordon 2, sounds like quite the sequel. I'll see the rest of you when this one comes out.
The 2016 Verizon NBA Slam Dunk Contest featured: Will Barton, 2016 All-Star Andre Drummond, Aaron Gordon and last year's reigning dunk champ Zach LaVine.
The Dunk Contest has seen more anticlimactic moments than exciting ones since the contests early induction. The contest gained prominence because of the participation of all-time NBA greats in Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and many more. Though except for a few contests the All-Star Saturday's main-event has not received as much attention partly due to the decline in star players' participation.
After a few dunks the contest seemed to be looking as disappointing as several previous dunk contests in the twenty-first century after marginal dunks and a few misses by Barton and Drummond.
LaVine was a prohibitive favorite based on the performance he put on in last year's contest as reigning champion. The problem was LaVine needed competition and he found competition in the former collegiate standout at Arizona and a former member of the "Freshman Focus" Aaron Gordon.
Gordon put the pressure on LaVine with his between the legs dunk over Stuff the Magic Dragon his team's mascot who was standing on a hoverboard.
Stuff the Magic Dragon would make his way to the finals with Gordon as he was a part of the most memorable dunk of the night. Gordon performed a under the legs dunk jumping laterally over the dragon as he simultaneously grabbed the ball off the mascot's head and finished with a tomahawk dunk.
LaVine did not disappoint either. He matched his challenger stride for stride and dunk for dunk. His night was defined by a trio of free throw line dunks. LaVine caught an alley-oop from the free-throw line, did a windmill and won the contest by putting the ball between his legs as he glided from the charity stripe.
The dunk ensemble performed by each player can't even be found on a dunk package on 2K. All of the dunks performed have never been seen before nor have players tried to attempt the dunks before. The contest got to the point where both dunkers were just improvising because both dunkers ran out of ideas.
LaVine had to earn this victory though many still believe Gordon should've won despite LaVine's impressive showing as well. Only one word can sum up the showdown and it's rematch.
LaVine vs Gordon 2, sounds like quite the sequel. I'll see the rest of you when this one comes out.
