BACK TO BACK. Zach LaVine is the 2016 Slam Dunk champ. pic.twitter.com/AImoHdPxyD
— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) February 14, 2016
Minnesota Timberwolves youngster Zach LaVine and Orlando Magic unknown Aaron Gordon treated the world in the NBA Slam-Dunk Contest on Saturday night.
By Robby Sabo
My oh my. Now that was an NBA Slam-Dunk Contest.
Gone are the days of prop-filled ridiculousness from the likes of Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson, and in is the actual art of dunking.
Finally, the actual talent and skill of dunking a basketball is back in the NBA Slam-Dunk Contest. It’s bring us back to a more nostalgic day filled with names such as Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan.
But that was then, and this is now.
The now includes the now two-time Dunk Champion Zach LaVine and the runner up from the newest edition, the seemingly unknown Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic.
While the contest started out in a very ho-hum sort of fashion, it ended with a bank. It took extra rounds of dunks for these two to settle things.
Here’s the contest winner from LaVine, as he went between-the-legs while taking off near the free-throw line:
https://vine.co/v/inPTzKYqBYK
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/qCtHjh2qdY
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 14, 2016
The door was left open by Gordon after he only put up a 47 on his previous dunk:
https://vine.co/v/inPIxum9muZ
And as you can see, it the judges probably underscored it.
Regardless, these two went at it all night long and put together the best head-to-head battle in the contest since the 1980s.
Here are some of the other highlights:
https://vine.co/v/inPtUOxahnE
https://vine.co/v/inPp69OZYAD
Let's slow it down. pic.twitter.com/4lZ6iFp1wC
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 14, 2016
https://vine.co/v/inPjwjw5Qlb
https://vine.co/v/inPjBhALndW
https://vine.co/v/inPDJU2PFzu
These guys brought the contest back to a purer form and simply put on a show.
