Once upon a time, people actually got excited to watch the festivities of NBA All-Star Weekend’s Saturday Night, even more than watching the actual All-Star Game. There are so many memories to look back on with a smile, like Larry Bird walking into the locker room and asking, “So, who’s coming in second?” or Vince Carter’s out-of-this-world dunks that led to the famous saying, “Let’s go home, ladies and gentlemen!” by Kenny Smith. But, for the most part, the 21st century has brought us some extremely dull moments that, for the most part, could be entirely forgotten about.
The Slam Dunk Contest, once brought to prominence by the many feuds between Michael “Air” Jordan and Dominique “The Human Highlight Film” Wilkins, became nothing more than a contest of “Who has the best gimmicks?” Dwight Howard came with a Superman cape, Blake Griffin jumped over a car, Jeremy Evans used two balls, and Paul George turned the lights off. While these were surely some great dunks, it couldn’t help but make us all say, “Eh, we’ve seen better.”
Well, it finally seems as if we can stop saying that. Last year, we were blessed with seeing the eventual MVP Stephen Curry break the record for most points in the Three-Point Contest and blow our minds away. At that point, we told ourselves, “There’s no way the Dunk Contest could get any better.” We saw some impressive stuff, but once again, that same old thought crept back into our minds. Then, a scrawny, nineteen-year-old kid playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves took the stage, came out of the locker room, put on a "Space Jam" jersey, and blew our minds away.
Zach LaVine would alley-oop it to himself, he would grab the ball midair from a teammate, get it from the side of the backboard, and he’d finish it all with power that could be felt planets away. He became the youngest since Kobe Bryant to win the contest, and became a household name for the show he put on. Rather than doubt, one question started to creep into our mindset: “Is Saturday Night actually good again?”
Fast forward to the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend. After being treated to a delightful Friday night with the fun Celebrity Game and the fantastic Rising Stars Challenge (in which LaVine won the MVP for), the time finally came for Saturday night. Karl Anthony-Towns made jaws drop as he became the first ever big man to win the Skills Challenge. At this point, it was safe to assume we were in for something special.
Then came the Three-Point Contest. After a long first round, we saw the champion Stephen Curry make it to the next round, followed by his teammate Klay Thompson and a nineteen-year-old rising star Devin Booker. Booker did his best, but he was no match for the true show of the contest, three-point specialists and teammates Curry and Thompson duking it out. Curry played no games, as he put up an extremely impressive twenty-three points. However, that didn’t faze Thompson whatsoever, as he put up twenty-seven points, tying the record, and taking the trophy to go home.
Once the fantastic contest was over, announcers were discussing whether or not the Three-Point Contest should just be the last festivity of the night. With such amazing players actively seeking out to play in that contest, it shouldn’t even be a question. Other than last year, the Dunk Contest was never a must-see. Who could possibly make it exciting again?
Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon, that’s who.
We all knew LaVine would put on a great show, but no one expected Gordon to come out and put on an (arguably) even better show. These two stars wowed the crowd and made me stand up out of my seat for the duration. It was a competition that rivaled that of Jordan and Wilkins, as fans all over the world were treated to back-to-back-to-back-to-infinite dunks that made us jump up and down. It truly felt as if these two dunkers would be dunking until the end of time out there. With a dunk from Gordon that had him sitting in the air over his mascot on a hoverboard...
...and a between the legs dunk from LaVine from the free throw line, this was a contest that left me with no words.
LaVine was ultimately awarded the trophy for Slam Dunk Contest Champion, but there was no question that there should have been two trophies out there. These two stars put on an unforgettable show that made everyone on my Facebook timeline talk endlessly about it. It was nothing we’ve ever seen before, without any gimmicks or lights-off-stadium.
For the first time in a long, long time, we were treated to words we thought we would never hear again: “Let’s go home, ladies and gentlemen!”
