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NBA Slam Dunk Contest: Aaron Gordon Belittles Mac McClung & Co’s Efforts In Public

Published 02/18/2024, 1:05 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Former dunk contest runner-up Aaron Gordon fired shots after tonight’s event. The Denver Nuggets star had instances of disappointments in the Dunk contest in the past. And the star doesn’t seem to have forgotten it. Following tonight’s event, Gordon took to his X handle and took a dig at Mac Mclung and his fellow participants with a post.

Gordon wrote, “I probably could’ve got second in this years dunk contest lol,” with a laughing emoji. While Gordon got snubbed from winning the Slam Dunk contest twice in the past, he could be indirectly stating that he might have taken home the runners-up title.

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The 28-year-old isn’t just another NBA star who commented on the slam dunk contest. In fact, he made himself a place alongside the legends of contest. Whenever the topic of the dunk contest emerges, no one can get away without talking about Dominique Wilkins-Michael Jordan showdown, Vince Carter’s brilliance from 2000, and Dwight Howard’s superman cape show.

In that list, Aaron Gordon also made a dent with two iconic performances. He went neck-t0-neck against Zach Lavine in 2016 and also produced athletic marvel against Derrick Jones Jr. in 2020. The star ended up losing both the battles. He was always dragged into the conversation about the controversial results of those contests.

Many felt Gordon deserved to win the 2016 contest against Zach Lavine and the 2020 contest result against Jones Jr. still remains a controversial call. Some fans felt that Dwyane Wade threw in some hometown advantage to the Miami Heat star.

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Nevertheless, let’s jump into the present and dive deeper into this year’s contest.

McClung shines as Brown falls short in the final round

Mac McClung scored a clean 50 in the final round against Jaylen Brown, who could only score 49.2. Notably, Brown had a mixed response from fans following his performance. Some fans even trolled him for his second dunk, where he jumped over 5 ‘3 Kai Cenat by collecting a mid-air pass from Jayson Tatum.

Many considered the dunk as the lamest dunk of the contest. Despite that, he made it to the final round against the defending champion. McClung didn’t take any chance as he slammed a dunk, jumping the big man, Shaquille O’Neal, extracting a clean 50 points.

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On the other hand, rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Jacob Toppin put up a decent show, but couldn’t make it to the final cut.

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What do you make of Aaron Gordan’s dig at the slam dunk contestants? Let us know in the comment below.

 

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Written by:

Shahul Hameed

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Shahul Hameed is a Senior NBA Writer at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Master's Degree in journalism from a distinguished institute, his journey into sports writing began during his college days, and since then, Shahul has been captivated not only by the remarkable consistency of Stephen Curry but also by the enduring legacy of LeBron James. He specializes in covering the live basketball action.
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Edited by:

Sameen Nawathe