“It’s over ladies and gentleman! It’s over!”
That was the famous call of Kenny “The Jet” Smith in the 2000 slam dunk contest. Vince Carter had just proven to every basketball fan that he was, in fact, not human — what he could do with a basketball just could not be done by another human being. Since that dunk contest, though there were a few good dunks every now and then, the quality of the contest as a whole was decreasing. All these big men were getting into the contest. Like, really? Mason Plumlee is in the dunk contest? What a horrible way to waste my time on a Saturday night. Although the 3-pointer contest has become the highlight of many people’s all-star weekend — this weekend felt like an old-time contest. It felt like we turned the time tables back to Dominique and Jordan. It felt like we were seeing dunks that we had never seen before, and it was a real competition and not a runaway.
Leading up to this contest I was one of those people who thought that even if someone jumped through a ring of flame, Zach Lavine would still do something crazier to win. But I was wrong — dead wrong. Aaron Gordon may have disproven some principles of gravity when doing some of his dunks, especially when he went under his legs and jumped over the mascot as if he were sitting on a chair eight feet above the ground. Sitting in Kerby Lane in Austin watching his dunks — I was just mesmerized. Dunk after dunk looked spectacular and it almost felt as if these guys could do these dunks even on a 12-foot rim. On the other side of Gordon’s dunks were Zach Lavine’s mind boggling slams as well. My favorite of the night was 180 behind the back slam. Why it was my favorite was because he dunked this ball on his way up and made it look so easy.
The slam dunk contest is an exhibition of art on a basketball court. There are very few times in basketball where the aesthetic of the game is appreciated like it is during this contest. Everyone’s eyes turn to the players and they are given an opportunity to display the work they have been practicing, and it is almost like an art gallery. Although we will have to wait another year before another contest, the glory, and hype behind the contest has been restored. No longer will people tune in only to watch Steph Curry and Klay Thompson pour in threes as if there's a funnel above the basket. No longer will people tune into the Rising Stars challenge only to see young players one up each other. No longer will the Saturday of the all-star weekend be overshadowed by the game on Sunday. People will be starving and craving for the dunk contest to see what players like Lavine and Gordon are cooking up in their dunk laboratory. We may not have Vinsanity anymore, but we have a chance to look forward to Lavinesanity, and we may not have Air Jordan, but we might have Air Gordon.
