NBA: 30 reasons to be excited for 2019-20 season
18. A Gordon-LaVine Dunk Contest rematch (potentially)
Inside Toronto’s Air Canada Centre at All-Star Weekend back in 2016, two of the games best dunkers etched their names in history with a Dunk Contest that rivals any to come before it. Since then, the competition simply hasn’t been the same, prompting a yearly request for both Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon to participate in a rematch.
Gordon, to his credit, seems willing to throw his name in the hat once again, even after a disappointing opening-round elimination in 2017. TMZ recorded him saying as much, with the five-year veteran even go so far as to name-drop the man many feel robbed him of that Dunk Contest victory.
After back-to-back victories in 2015 and 2016, LaVine has been out of sight at the All-Star festivities, but the coming weekend offers extra incentives that could entice him to reclaim his rightful spot atop the dunking throne.
The 2020 All-Star Weekend is set to take place in the Windy City, home of the Chicago Bulls, the team LaVine just so happens to play for. Chicago is also home to the United Center, the arena that Michael Jordan built. Chicago was also the stage of the legendary dunk battle between Jordan and Dominique Wilkins at old Chicago Stadium back in 1988.
What better backdrop for another duel than under the retired jersey of one of the game’s greatest dunkers? Gordon has the right at another chance at the trophy and with the setting a modest drive from his home, LaVine has little to no excuses not to provide the rematch all have desperately been waiting to see.