On February 13, Timberwolves player Zach LaVine (right) hugged opponent Magic player Aaron Gordon after winning the championship
regards.
On the same day, the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest was held in Toronto, Canada. Timberwolves player Zach LaVine defeated Orlando Magic player Aaron Gordon in the final of the slam dunk contest and successfully defended his title.
Published by Xinhua News Agency (photo by Zou Zheng)
If the significance of last year’s All-Star Slam Dunk Contest is that Timberwolves guard LaVine “saved” this sport that many people thought had almost reached the ceiling with his super jumping and mid-air switching, then this year LaVine and
Gordon’s aerial duel of the Magic gave people a classic taste of the long-lost dunk contest: the two won two extra games, and LaVine successfully defended the title.
Moreover, they completed those super-difficult dunks almost at one time in each round, which made the audience amazed. The feeling seemed to go back to the challenge between “Flying Man” Jordan and “Human Movie Jinhua” Wilkins in 1988.
A test of the power of gravity.
After yesterday’s duel, the classic taste of the slam dunk contest and the feeling of infinite anticipation really came back.
Bringing the Slam Dunk Contest Back to Classic
Almost every year in the NBA All-Star individual competition, the slam dunk contest is the most attractive project.
But this project is also passing the test of time. It is undeniable that when the human body has almost reached its limit and the dunks that can be made are almost used up, this project seems to have reached the ceiling.
For a long time, people used to regard the 2000 Golden State Slam Dunk Contest as a watershed for this project. Before the slam dunk contest, there would always be some classic duels, and a real dunk king would also be born, such as
Jordan, Wilkins, Carter, etc., but after that, the project will have some surprises, such as Griffin flying over a car in 2011, or Green blowing out the rim during a dunk in 2008
A candle next to it, etc., but the slam dunk contests these years are really not classics. After all, their content in props and creativity is greater than the most essential and classic thing of the slam dunk contest—constantly challenging physical abilities.
Limit to complete the innovation of dunk action.
The emergence of LaVine in the slam dunk contest last year made the gradually tasteless slam dunk contest become a bit tasteful, but it is not yet a classic dunk contest. After all, LaVine lacks opponents of the same weight.
Some cute designs, such as wearing the boots of the idol Kobe in my heart, and wearing Jordan’s No. 23 cape in “Space Jam”.
But this year is completely different. In the epic duel between LaVine and Gordon, there were no props that might give him extra points. It was a dunk that gradually pushed his physical limit to one height after another.
Actions, although some of the actions in the middle have some shadows of the previous predecessors, but on the whole they added their own things on this basis.
What is even more rare is that this time it is no longer LaVine dancing alone, but with Gordon, an opponent who is strong enough to only let you take out the bottom of the box to win. The authoritative American media said after the game
The author commented that this is reminiscent of the classic duel between Jordan and Wilkins in 1988.
Yes, this is the classic flavor.
Possibly the best slam dunk contest in history
In the slam dunk contest that Jordan won in 1988, “Flying Man” staged the elegant dunk move from the free throw line that will be remembered forever. Jordan was not the first player to do the free throw line in the dunk contest.
“Dr. J” Julius Owen had done it before him, but the difference of Jordan is that his movements are more stretched and elegant, and you can even see the classic tongue-out action during the “Flying Man” dunk in the replay
.
After Jordan, Carter made a similar move in the 2000 dunk contest, but he was remembered by later generations because Carter’s dunk from the free throw line was done with both hands.
The difficulty requirement may be better than one hand.
As for the free-throw line jump dunk, the classic action of the slam dunk contest, there has been no obvious update and change since then.
But yesterday LaVine completed the “trilogy” of taking off from the free throw line: first, he caught the ball and completed a one-handed dunk after taking off from the free throw line.
Jumping from the same position, followed by a dunk with a small windmill. This is undoubtedly a difficult innovation. But in the end, LaVine pushed the jumping dunk from the free throw line to another level of difficulty. After taking off, he made a crotch change.
dunk.
After the game, a reporter asked LaVine how he felt about this slam dunk contest. He said: “I think this is the best slam dunk contest. I don’t intend to compare it with the great Jordan, but this game made a lot of moves.
They have never been done before. Moreover, many actions were done by players in the past four to five times, but we did it in one go.” Another Griffin who also participated in the slam dunk contest before
After watching the slam dunk contest, he directly said, “This is the best slam dunk contest in history.” In a poll on a domestic portal website, more than 75% of people believed that this year’s slam dunk contest was the best in history.
Could the dunk contest be any better?
Many fans are sighing, after watching this year’s slam dunk contest, they have already begun to look forward to it