Zach Lavine and Victor Oladipo bring the Dunk Contest back for one night!!!!!
When you think of the history of the Dunk Contest during the NBA all star weekend you think of the high flying dunks that the fans will never forget. Well this past Saturday night just did that in adding more memories for the incredible dunks the contestants did. The two players that stood out on Saturday were Victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic, and Zach Lavine of the Minnesota Timberwolves. From the first dunk to their last one they had the crowd in a frenzy for the incredible performance. Victor Oladipo had the disadvantage in this competition for being the smallest amongst all the other contestants were twice his size. In his first dunk attempt he called it the New York, New York, which many were wondering including myself what he was going to do. He was to complete a 540 dunk which was incredible. The fans along with the NBA All stars along with legends in attendance were excited, and wanted more. He had gotten a perfect score, and wanted to make a statement to make sure people knew he meant business.
Then the next contestant was the young phenom from the Timberwolves Zach Lavine who many had picked to win this contest. Many people thought he was a incredible dunker from the videos that had been circulating from his college games he was in, along with random dunks people recorded of him doing. When he came out to do his dunk he called it the Space Jam which he said he dedicated it to his past child years of watching the movie. He also idolized Michael Jordan who was a former contestant of this competition and a legend. When he did the dunk the Barclay center went absolutely crazy. When you saw the judges reaction along with the NBA all stars you knew he won the people over. What was interesting also that had people amazed was how high he jumped and how close he almost hit his head. When they showed the facial reaction of Victor Oladipo it looked like he saw a ghost knowing he had his hands full. Lavine seemed very calm, and collective in how confident he was in competing and completing these dunks.
When both competitors advanced to the finals, Oladipo couldn't compete with Lavine in the creativity the young phenom had come up with. Oladipo was able to complete a dunk from behind the backboard pass from his teammates help Elfrid Payton. It was a very difficult dunk which he got a high score for but it was not enough. Lavine' s next dunk was a bounce pass to himself and caught the pass and around the back for the dunk. With completing that second dunk he basically sealed the deal in winning the competition. The Barclay center again went into a frenzy, and Oladipo was sitting their with a facial reaction in looking like he was saying it was unfair. Oladipo knew it was not going to be easy but he knew it was over after that dunk. Oladipo gave a great effort, and performance in attempting to win this contest.
The Dunk Contest really was brought alive this year from the performance the competitors had given to fans. Unlike most Dunk contests this one had no props being used. When you think of the past winners from the Dunk Contests the winners did not use props at all, or as much. These past two years the competition had made people not interested in watching it, or even know it was on. In the early 90's compeititors tried to do the dunks without making it all fancy. These players that competed over the weekend no one really knew of but now after this one more people will become fans. I think most fans will disagree with me about the dunk competition. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions but they have to remember this particular contest was holding on by a thread in being kept alive.
Overall, this competition was brought back alive for other competitors to possibly join in next year's competition. Who ever decides to compete in next years Dunk Contest will have to bring there A+ performance to knock off Zach Lavine for the jumping ability he has, and creativity. From the view of things fans and players along with legends of the game got excited once again because of the creativity the players brought. Don't get me wrong the previous Dunk Contest has some memorable moments but they didn't match to what was done this past Saturday night. They went back to the original way a dunk contest should be done. It is cool that we got to see a dunk over a car, or dunks being done over a few people but it gets old after awhile and people start to loose interest. This years competitors paid respects in how dunking is suppose to be from the all time greats did it. Lavine and Oladipo put their name in the history book along with other greats such as Michael Jordan, Dr. J, Dominique Wilkins, Vince Carter, Spud Webb and many more. Hopefully next year we will be able to continue to talk about how the Dunk Contest was an exciting contest.
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