An under-the-leg crossover and a behind-the-back move all the way to thunderous dunks were more than enough for Minnesota Timberwolves’ Zach LaVine to score a perfect 100 to top the preliminaries of the Sprite NBA Slam Dunk contest for 2015.
In the finals against Orlando Magic’s Victor Oladipo, the 19-year-old LaVine showed of his unbelievable dunking prowess to be crowned the NBA’s latest Slam Dunk champion before an impressed mammoth crowd in Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
In his two dunks in the championship, LaVine scored 45 and 49 for a total of 94 points as opposed to Oladipo’s scores of 31 and 41, giving the Wolves’ rookie the clear victory, details MSN News.
Many in the NBA believe that Zach LaVine’s victory in the 2015 NBA Slam Dunk contest was the best since Vince Carter dominated the competition during the 2000 contest.
A competitive lot
While there were only four participants to this year’s NBA Slam Dunk contest, it was very competitive nonetheless. In addition to Zach LaVine and Victor Oladipo, Brooklyn Nets’ center Mason Plumlee was also in as well as Milwaukee Bucks’ center-forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Plumlee began the preliminaries with hardly any fanfare, preferring to go straight with his dunk on the first round, a two-handed reverse via the side of the backboard as assisted by former Duke teammate Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He got 40 from the judges.
Antetokounmpo went in with a lot of flair as his entry into the court came with a huge Greek flag and several Greek goddesses. But all his three self alley-oops all the way to a one-handed throwdown did not sink giving him a score of 30.
When his name was called into the court, Oladipo came in singing “New York, New York,” and he was dressed like the chairman of the board, Frank Sinatra, at least the upper half, since he was wearing his Orlando Magic shorts and sneakers on the lower half. His entry proved to be his impetus in making a 540-degree dunk, the first-of-its-kind in the slam-dunk contest, on the way to perfect score of 50 from the judges.
LaVine came in with two musicians singing the theme of “Space Jam,” and when he unzipped his jacket, he was wearing Michael Jordan’s No. 23 jersey for the Toon Squad. He threw a self alley-oop and had the ball go through his legs finishing with a reverse dunk. That had the crowd roaring in amazement so it was no surprise that he got a score of 50.
The second round was less than spectacular for the three competitors except for LaVine who threw again a self alley-oop and then had the ball go behind his back with his face on the rim and then slammed it to hoop. It was a riveting dunk alright and it got him another perfect score of 50.
Championship was a formality
The two-round championship was just a formality as the crowd already knew that LaVine was the better dunker among the two finalists. Oladipo appears to have felt the pressure too as he was not able to sink his first dunk in all three attempts.
LaVine actually entered the contest as a heavy favorite, both for oddsmakers and NBA fans who voted ahead of the event. And he only proved them all right because the 19-year-old can really dunk!