Zach LaVine soars to victory in dunk contest
February 16, 2015
To the surprise of many people, this year’s dunk contest ended up being pretty awesome. Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves provided some much needed life to the NBA Dunk Contest on Feb. 14. Winning the contest, the 19-year-old put on one of the best performances seen in years.
Both the crowd at Madison Square Garden and social media were sent into a ruckus by Lavine’s first two dunks, which received back-to-back perfect scores. He started the night off by going through the legs and finishing with a one-handed reverse, done while donning a replica Space-Jam Michael Jordan jersey. He followed it up with an effortless looking behind-the-back jam, displaying his pure athleticism. If you didn’t get a chance to see them live, I highly recommend watching them online. You will not be disappointed.
The 19-year-old Timberwolves guard put together one of the best performances since Vince Carter shut down the 2000 dunk contest 15 years ago. LaVine didn’t need to rely upon celebrity appearances, ridiculous costumes, or any other props to get the job done. He opted to keep things simple and let his dunks do all of the talking.
Competitors Giannis Antetokounmpo and Mason Plumlee were both eliminated in the first round of the dunk contest with unremarkable performances. Plumlee’s dunks were rather unimpressive due to the fact that he’s 6 feet 10 inches, while Antetokounmpo completely failed to land a dunk in his first three attempts.
Victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic was the only participant who provided worthy competition. His first dunk, a spinning reverse dunk somewhere between 360 and 540 degrees, was the next best of the night. However, he failed to complete some of his more challenging dunk attempts in the second round.
LaVine ended the night by soaring in with a between-the-legs alley-oop finish, which sealed the deal and gave him the crown. The Timberwolves guard stole the show and is your 2015 NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion. While his performance may not have saved the dunk contest entirely, it certainly is going to be talked about for a while.
LaVine says that he will be competing again in next years’ competition, so until then, we will be eagerly awaiting what he has in store.