NBA All-Star Weekend: Larry Nance Jr. robbed in NBA Dunk Contest

NBA All-Star Weekend saw former Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. get robbed by the judges.

The NBA All-Star Break brings one of the most anticipated events in sports in NBA All-Star Weekend. There isn’t any league that puts on a show like the NBA prior to their stars taking the field, court or ice.

While the event has changed over the years, the biggest show is still the dunk contest. While some fans believe some luster has been lost from the contest, there is still something awesome about watching players throw down innovative dunks. This year was no different.

This year, the Los Angeles Lakers had a dog in the race, somewhat. Former forward Larry Nance Jr. participated.

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The Lakers traded Nance Jr. to the Cleveland Cavaliers, along with Jordan Clarkson, right before the NBA Trade Deadline, in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and the Cavaliers’ 2018 first round draft pick.

In addition to Nance Jr., Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers and Dennis Smith Jr. of the Dallas Mavericks took part. They brought it, as all four players had impressive dunks.

Smith Jr. had the first perfect score of the evening with an impressive 360 in which he put the ball between his legs, switching hands in the process.

https://twitter.com/NBAAllStar/status/965061139813093376

However, that was not enough to get him into the second round. He, along with Oladipo, was eliminated after the first round. Oladipo’s best dunk of the night came when he paid homage to Marvel’s newest move, the Black Panther.

https://twitter.com/overtime/status/965058659230388225

Mitchell also paid homage to dunkers of the past, as he wore jerseys of Darrell Griffith and Vince Carter. While awesome, it isn’t on the same level as being able to wear the jersey of your father, like Nance Jr. did.

Nance Jr. wore his father, Larry Nance Sr., Phoenix Suns jersey prior to doing his first dunk of the night.

Nance Jr. also had the most creative and best dunk of the night. Nance Jr. threw a pass to himself off the backboard from the foul line, caught it and passed it off the backboard a second time before dunking it.

While Nance Jr. did well, he did not take home the title. That went to Mitchell, who won over the crowd with his tributes to Carter and Griffith. Mitchell received a 50 on three of his dunks, beating Nance Jr. by two points in the end.

Previous to the dunk contest, we also saw Phoenix Suns’ guard Devin Booker take down the field in the 3-point competition, setting a record with 28 points. Granted, that record should have an asterisk, as there is a full rack of money balls worth two points now, which has not been around the whole time that the 3-point contest has been.

In the skills competition, Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets took home the trophy.

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With the Saturday night festivities over, all focus will now be on the All-Star game Sunday night. The game will be at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT!