It’s time for one of the young Lakers to make a name for himself in the NBA Dunk Contest this year.
Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. can hit a dunk starting at the charity stripe, but those dunks aren’t what got most people’s attention. Nance has made his two submissions for dunk of the year already and it’s only January.
The Dunk is back to showcase prominence, and the NBA Dunk Contest is here to stay.
One reason it is here to stay is because the youngest players in the league are honing in their dunking skills and are focused on outdoing their peers beginning in AAU competition and continuing into High School. High school players such as No. 1 NCAA Class of 2017 commit Deandre Ayton (Cal Supreme AAU team and Arizona commit) and former Laker Shaquille Oneal’s son Sharif regularly post their dunks.
Last year’s pre-season Ballislife showcase sponsored a dunk contest for incoming college commits from Kentucky, UCLA (T.J. Leaf, Lonzo Ball), Arizona (Rawle Alkins, Terrence Ferguson) and more. Rawle and Terrence went into battle in the finals and Ferguson won before de-committing from Arizona to play professionally in Australia to develop his skills for the NBA draft. He is currently projected as the No. 20 draft pick in the 2017 NBA draft.
Note: Dunks are at the beginning and the end of the video interview.
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This season’s NBA Dunk Contest will be highly anticipated due to last season’s exciting showdown between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon. LaVine (UCLA 2014) and Gordon (Arizona 2014) are both former Pac-12 players who left the NCAA early to pursue their NBA Dreams. Pac-12 fans were graced with their dunking performances and prowess while they were in college, so none of them were surprised at their dunking ability, but these two pushed the competition to a new level.
It was such a close competition that there was controversy following last season’s NBA Dunk contest after Zach LaVine walked away with the trophy. Orlando Magic and Arizona Wildcats fans took to Twitter to protest the outcome feeling that Gordon’s use of props was unprecedented and way over the top, so he should have won.
NBA Fans soon learned to no longer dismiss the dunk contest, especially after watching dunks like this one from Gordon last year:
Remembering back a few years, the last exciting prop-based winning dunk before to the Gordon/LaVine battle, was when the Clippers Blake Griffin jumped over a KIA (a car brand he sponsors). As he jumped over the hood of the car, he grabbed a basketball passed to him from his fellow teammate at the time Byron Davis whose hands were sticking up through the sunroof in the car, then dunked the ball. Griffin is still a Clipper, but the last Los Angeles talent to show off in this contest. This 2011 championship dunk came along with a gospel choir singing “I believe I can fly.”
Hopefully, NBA fans have weathered the dry spell and the future is bright when it comes to the dunk contest, and it’s time for a Laker to participate. Of course, there are plenty of great dunkers on the Lakers, but we feel Larry Nance Jr. would be an excellent choice.
It’s time for a Laker to take the stage and it seems there is a potential candidate in Larry Nance Jr. Nance loves dunking the ball, and Lakers fans love him for his exciting posterizations. Being part of such a young team, Nance has his teammates to help him practice and come up with a menu of dunks to use. Also, his length and athleticism make him a perfect candidate.
Others may want Gordon and LaVine back for round two, but not much could top last season’s contest, so we predict they will want to compete again. Gordon and his fans still believe he won the contest. The judges are former NBA players usually and it is all subjective, so there is no guarantee that if you make the best dunks you will win the competition.
The last time a Los Angeles Laker entered the contest, it was 2010 and Shannon Brown didn’t win. The only Laker to ever win the NBA Dunk Contest? You guessed it Kobe Bryant in 1997. Along with Shannon and Kobe, Antonio Harvey (1995), Michael Cooper (1984) are the only other Lakers to enter the contest.
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Who do you think should join Nance in the Dunk Contest? Well, we hope our fave Larry Nance Jr. gets an invite this season, if healthy, and takes home the trophy.