Robbery or Close Call?
The NBA’s All Star Weekend is a time in the middle of regular season for the best players to come together and put on a show. It’s a weekend of fun and entertaining competitions for players to show what they can do.
To be named an All Star is among the highest honors in the NBA. While the All Star Game is accompanied by its own hype and rewards, it is the activities that come before the game that completely take the cake. The Skills Competition, Three Point Contest, and Slam Dunk Contest are the best parts of the entire weekend. Historically, the Slam Dunk Contest has seen some extremely controversial outcomes and last night was no different.
This season’s All Star Weekend is being hosted in Chicago and naturally, you can’t bring up basketball in Chicago without mentioning Michael Jordan at least once. The main topic of All Star Weekend has been the 1988 Slam Dunk battle between Jordan and Dominique Wilkins. In a recent Chicago Tribune article recalling the event, it was said that “part of the mystique is the controversial final round, in which Wilkins received a score of a 45 for his final dunk, a two-handed windmill jam. Wilkins needed a 48 to clinch victory.” Even Michael Jordan said that he would’ve given Wilkins a 49 or a 50 for his dunk. Of course, this is the famous contest in which Michael Jordan “executed the now-iconic free-throw-line dunk” that secured the win.
The 2016 Slam Dunk Contest was a brawl in its own right. Zach LaVine, a Minnesota Timberwolves player at the time, ended up going head to head with Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic. Both players brought out some very impressive dunks and put their athleticism on full display. LaVine relied on his ability to dunk from the free throw line with a lob from his teammate and a between the legs dunk from a distance to outlast Aaron Gordon, who brought never before seen creativity to the contest. He somehow managed to fly over his team’s mascot, who rode a spinning hoverboard. In the end, many people believed that Aaron Gordon had been robbed of the trophy.
The 2020 Slam Dunk Contest did not disappoint. All four participants brought their A game, but it was Aaron Gordon and Derrick Jones Jr who stole the show with their jaw dropping dunks. Derrick Jones Jr payed homage to Michael Jordan by imitating the dunk that secured the win for Jordan in ‘88. Aaron Gordon mixed his creativity with his gutsy athleticism yet again with his dunks over Chicago native, Chance the Rapper and 7’5” baller, Tacko Fall.
Gordon and Jones continued the show for what seems like forever, although many will say that there was always a clear winner. Ultimately, Gordon’s monstrous dunk over Tacko Fall was not enough in the eyes of the judges. As if 2016 wasn’t enough, fans and other players believe that Aaron Gordon was robbed for a second time. He now claims that he will not participate in another Slam Dunk Contest.
The reactions from notable people like Ja Morant, Common, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo should be enough for everyone to see that the contest is a controversial matter. It wasn’t going to be allowed to end in a tie. Even the announcers referred to the outcome as “highway robbery.”
Question: Someone had to lose, but was it the wrong choice? Tell me who you think should have won and why in the comments section below.