What. A. Show.
This year’s 2015 NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest did not disappoint and this year’s winner, Zach LaVine, put on a performance that will be remembered forever.
LaVine, a rookie playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, won this year’s contest by beating out Victor Oladipo from the Orlando Magic, Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks, and Mason Plumlee from the Brooklyn Nets. This year’s contest was hyped as usual, but many people were not buying into it.
The NBA dunk contest — at one time a main highlight of the NBA season — has been downright mediocre in recent years.
The images of the epic Michael Jordan vs. Dominique Wilkins battle of the late ’80s, the creative dunks of the ’90s or Vince Carter’s complete defiance of physics in 2000 are always shown in hopes of hyping each year’s dunk contest.
But the past few years have not been memorable. For example, last year’s idea of having teams compete in the contest was disliked by many NBA fans. The dunk contest has always been every man for himself, and having players work together to win confused the audience and simply didn’t fit the model of what a dunk contest should be.
Despite being unmemorable, the past few years have had small spots of sunshine. Blake Griffin put on a show in 2011, showing incredible jumping ability leaping over the hood of a car to win, and Terrence Ross also had an impressive victory in 2013.
While these dunks demonstrated outstanding amounts of skill and creativity, they simply do not compare to what Zach LaVine showed us Saturday night.
Zach LaVine, simply put, made it fun to watch the dunk contest again.
He was highly hyped for the event, and it’s safe to say that he shattered expectations. His first dunk made me jump from my futon, as he performed a creative, through-the-legs reverse dunk which electrified the entire New York audience.
LaVine wasn’t done, however, as he would go on to perform a dunk that would literally drop jaws around the world. Zach LaVine’s second dunk in the first round was, in my opinion, the best dunk I’ve seen since Vince Carter’s display in 2000. The second dunk was a bounce-pass, behind-the-back jam that shook the crowd to its core.
LaVine cruised to a round one victory, earning a perfect score of 100 in the opening round. LaVine’s second round was explosive as well, as he performed through-the-legs dunks on both of his baskets in the championship round to beat out Victor Oladipo.
This year’s contest was an amazing show of athleticism which will be remembered for years to come. As a die-hard NBA fan, I am unbelievably excited to see such a high level of competition in the dunk contest, as I was beginning to believe that the contest had seen its better days.
I can only hope the LaVine performance will be the permanent spark the dunk contest needs and will inspire future competitors to continue the revival of the NBA’s dunk contest.
Who knows? Maybe 20 years from now, we’ll be showing clips of Zach LaVine and not Michael Jordan. Maybe.
