Getty Aaron Gordon
Orlando Magic power forward Aaron Gordon is making his case for being the most prolific and stylish dunker this season. He has yet to win the dunk contest, though he’s a regular competitor, but he’s putting up enough stylish dunks in-game to at least deserve a serious nod.
Check out this effortless 360 from last season:
Aaron Gordon bringing a little dunk contest flair on this one.
And this brutal below-the-basket throwdown from just minutes into the first game of the season:
Took about three minutes into the season for Aaron Gordon to dunk on someone 😂 (via @NBA)
The 23-year-old may have peaked last night though, when he caught and stuffed this beautiful alley-oop pass, mailman style:
👀 Aaron Gordon did the Karl Malone “Mailman” dunk off an alley-oop!!
Who Could Dethrone Him?
Gordon is all over the rim this season, but there are no doubt some other prolific dunkers in the league. Two-time Slam Dunk contest winner Zach LaVine is a formidable opponent when it comes to the beautiful art, and the two had an absolute showdown in 2016’s contest.
Check out the slow-mo recap of that battle from ESPN:
The reigning Slam Dunk Champ Donovan Mitchell is no one to be trifled with, either, and had some fantastic dunks of his own just last night.
The reigning dunk 🏆, @spidadmitchell
It’s pretty standard for him. And being a shorter fella, he gets major points for his distance from the safety of ground-level play.
Whether anyone can supplant Gordon’s Mailman dunk as Dunk of the Year certainly remains to be seen, but we should all be excited to watch these guys try.
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