Minnesota Timberwolves: Andrew Wiggins & Zach LaVine Present The Summer Of Vines

When asked whether the 2014 No. 1 overall pick and reigning Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins jumped higher than  last year’s Slam Dunk Champion, Zach LaVine, on Reddit’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with NBA Rookies this Saturday, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ prized rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns immediately replied, “They both got moon shoes on. I don’t know. That’s tough. They jump so high, we can’t even tell.”

While KAT delivered the expected politically correct answer, the only practical way to settle the debate is to engage in a good old fashioned dunk-off. A 2016 dunk contest featuring the Bounce Brothers on Wiggins’ home turf would most certainly revive the already-hyped All-Star weekend.

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But, while we salivate at the thought of the two sky-walkers dueling one another in an aerial slugfest — a la Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins circa 1988 — and visualize the gravity-defying dunks the two gangly cyborgs are capable of; to compensate, the twosome has teased the NBA universe with a series of Vines that has social media collectively buzzing.

For Wiggins, in addition to debuting his polarizing new hairstyle — channeling his inner 2007 Chris Bosh — he has spent the majority of his offseason training diligently with Drew Hanlen, one of the most sought-after young trainers among NBA circles.

More explicitly, his Rolodex of clientele includes Bradley Beal, Jameer Nelson, Jordan Clarkson, Kelly Oubre Jr., Anthony Bennett, and Zach LaVine.

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The effortless 360 dunks are unequivocally breathtaking, but clearly, and more importantly, as evident through the above-attached clips, Wiggins is making a concerted effort in improving his ballhandling skills this offseason — the weakest part of Drew’s offensive game — in combination with refining his footwork in the post and his stop-and-pop pull-up game.

He was also seen his spot-up shooting, a vital skill he will undoubtedly execute next season while playing alongside a healthy Ricky Rubio and Karl-Anthony Towns — who proved to be a clairvoyant passer out of the post during Summer League.

On the other hand, LaVine has taken the summer by storm through his much ballyhooed appearances at local Pro Ams and his first annual summer youth camps.

When your older, more accomplished peers, such as Jamal Crawford — the holder of the Seattle Pro Am — gets giddy, like a 13 year-old getting ice cream on a hot Summer’s day, with the mere news of your anticipated arrival, you know you’re a special breed of entertainer/dunker.

Zach would not disappoint his neighborhood idol, as he dropped 49 points in just three quarters of play, including the game-winning walk-off 3.

The very next day, he gave up shooting altogether — most notably, giving a big proverbial middle finger to free throws (see the 0:13 second mark in the embedded video below for visual evidence) — and put on an unadulterated dunk fest.

Then, this past weekend, the Renton, Wash., native made his triumphant return back to the Pro Am in its All-Star game, and reaffirmed his strangle hold on the next five Slam Dunk championships. Here’s the terrifying thing: he looks like he’s barely even trying.

Along the way, LaVine has been holding a string of youth camps along the Pacific Northwest, from Montana to British Columbia.

Sure enough, he has been building his fan base and giving everyone a show throughout his Summer-long adventure.

Although it’s been a busy couple of months for the baby-faced 20 year-old, LaVine has still found time to refine his skills and train with the aforementioned Hanlen.

And while Andrew Wiggins & Zach LaVine have been making head-waves throughout the summer, the climax of the offseason has yet to commence. More specifically, in early September, Wiggins will discharge his new repertoire of moves as he represents Canada at the 2015 FIBA Americas.

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