(Getty)
Zach LaVine is your 2016 dunk contest champion, and he needed to put on a show to top Aaron Gordon, whose dunks you can see here.
Zach LaVine 2016 Dunk Contest Highlights
First Dunk
OMG ZACH LAVINE
Oh man. After a bit of a slow start from the other three participants, LaVine, the reigning champ, woke the crowd up in a major way, throwing down a better variation of one of his dunks from last year.
He, of course, received a 50.
And another angle because, well, wow:
Second Dunk
Oh man oh man! #VerizonDunk
LaVine one-upped the classic free-throw line dunk (or the half-step inside the free-throw line dunk) by turning it into an alley-oop and making it look incredibly easy.
Like with Aaron Gordon’s wild second dunk, Shaq gave LaVine a 9 and pushed his score down to 49. It was the only point he’d lose on the night.
Third Dunk
This one was a little underwhelming–that’s a relative term when we’re talking about LaVine–as it came right after a similar dunk from Gordon, but it still got him a 50.
Fourth Dunk
Zach LaVine again… t.co/gII4KcOpyX
Needing another perfect score to keep up with Gordon, he went with the ol’ windmill from the free-throw line.
Fifth Dunk
Zach LaVine won’t let his title slip away! #VerizonDunk
My goodness. Through the legs reverse from behind the hoop. No big deal.
Sixth Dunk
Zach LaVine seals the deal! #VerizonDunk t.co/cRnqITtSYu
After Gordon finally “only” received a 47, LaVine put it away with a ho-hum through-the-legs dunk from the free-throw line, putting the finishing touches on one of the greatest dunk contests ever.
We’ll let Dominique, who knows a thing or two about dunking, put it simply:
The dunk contest is back!!!
Preview
While LaVine, who won MVP at Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge, is still pretty raw as a player, he has established himself as the NBA‘s best dunker. Actually, with the dunks he was throwing down at the 2014 NBA combine, he had established himself as one of the leagues’ best dunkers before he had even played a game.
His legend continued to grow during his performance at the 2015 dunk contest, and if he could somehow top himself this year, it’s going to be truly special. Really, that’s how most are viewing this year’s contest. It’s 2016 LaVine vs. 2015 LaVine rather than LaVine vs. Will Barton, Aaron Gordon and Andre Drummond.
We’ll see if he can live up to the massive hype.
