By Dylan Kelley, Contributing Writer
Flashback to 1988 in Chicago Illinois, the home of NBA all-star weekend and the location of what would go down as one of the greatest dunk contests in history. It came down to the wire, but ultimately Michael Jordan pulled out the win over Dominique Wilkins, 147-145. To some, Michael Jordan was very deserving of the win after he threw down one of the most iconic dunks in NBA history, but to others in the building that night, Wilkins was robbed of the title after the judges awarded him a 45 on his final dunk.
Fast forward 32 years. Same city, same event. In a night that saw a heartwarming salute to the late Kobe Bryant, a feeling of disbelief swept through the crowd and across the country as Aaron Gordon was robbed of the title for the second time in his career.
This year’s NBA dunk contest was the best in recent memory, and it produced some of the best moments in the contest’s 44 years. Throughout the night, Aaron Gordon brought back the energy from his previous go at the title in 2016. The night had seen a back-and-forth battle between Gordon and the equally impressive Derrick Jones Jr. With the two being tied at the end of the final round, the excitement reached a new high heading into a dunk off.
With the first dunk of the dunk off Derrick Jones Jr. took flight from just inside the free-throw line, reminiscent of MJ 32 years prior. But when Candace Parker and Chadwick Boseman each gave him a 9, for a total score of 48, a sense of disbelief fell over the arena.
There was a feeling that the judges should award Aaron Gordon a 48 and send him and Jones home as co-owners of the trophy. But then Aaron Gordon made history. Knowing the trophy was on the line Gordon brought out 7’5’’ Tacko Fall to jump over while slamming the ball home.
In one of the greatest shows of athleticism Gordon ran up, and cleared Tacko Fall, for what should have been the perfect dunk. However, the general sense was that Derrick Jones Jr. couldn’t be sold short, and the consensus with the judges was that they would award Gordon a 48 to tie the contest.
It was a different matter when the scores were revealed, and Gordon had fallen one point behind Jones as Dwayne Wade had joined Parker and Boseman in awarding him a 9. One of the judges, Common, is quoted saying: “we thought it was going to be tied. We were like, ‘this is a tie’…but somebody didn’t do it right”.
To most, this might not be a big deal but after the contest, Gordon told reporters that after being robbed of the title for a second year, he would not be returning to the event. This is a huge loss for the NBA, as the contests in between Gordon’s losses were mediocre at best. Without one of the most creative dunkers in history, where does the event go from from here? Who do you blame if the event declines?
Do you blame Wade and say he favored his former Miami teammate, or do you look to the miscommunication and poor judging of the whole panel?
kelleyd18@bonaventure.edu
