Orlando Magic: Aaron Gordon Slam Dunk Contest robbery adds to woes

Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon was robbed at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend celebrations, once again losing out in the Dunk Contest in dubious fashion.

Saturday night in Chicago came with another crushing blow for the Orlando Magic, but for once it was not their own doing. A season of false starts and ugly offense, temporarily put on hold to get behind one of their best players, Aaron Gordon, as he took part in the NBA’s Slam Dunk competition for the third time.

Having somehow never won the contest before, the stage was set for him to bring home the trophy for the first time. Granted, this trophy doesn’t mean a lot to the Magic in the grand scheme of things. It will not decide whether they make the postseason, after all they were able to go on a run after the All-Star break just fine last year without any winners during the weekend.

It might not matter in a tangible sense, but it would have given the fans a rare reason to smile and to feel good about the franchise once more. If the addition of Michael Carter-Williams last season was a highlight for them, then Gordon winning some actual hardware may have warranted a parade.

It is hard to know what the worst part about this travesty is. The fact that Gordon now has eight perfect 50 point scoring dunks in the competition’s history (the most ever) without having anything to show for it, or that there was clearly some confusion among the judges when they realized what had just unfolded.

Take nothing away from Derrick Jones Jr., the Miami Heat player who had some nice dunks himself on the way to the win. Dunks that will forever now have an asterisk beside them, because of the manner in which he won. He shouldn’t have to feel like his win was not legitimate either, but whether he likes it or not he is now linked to what happened.

The fact it had to be a Heat player who took the trophy home makes this sting even more. They have always been the more successful team in the state of Florida, and just when it seemed last season like the power might finally be starting to shift, the genius of team president Pat Riley ensured that they built a semi-contender on the fly.

The Orlando Magic remained the annoying little brother, snapping at the heels of a champion sibling without ever causing any trouble. Is Dwyane Wade, the best Heat player in franchise history, and judge on the night, to blame for this fiasco?

Even if Common isn’t exactly saying so himself, it is not too hard to read between the lines. Heck, even this reaction from the judges themselves doesn’t exactly do much to dispel the belief that they wanted the contest to go to a tie so it could continue.

Scottie Pippen hasn’t looked like that since Michael Jordan said he was retiring to go and play baseball. Wade hasn’t looked that happy since LeBron James said he was skipping town so that he could have the Heat all to himself again. Chadwick Boseman? Not the kind of controversy that squeaky-clean Marvel actors are supposed to get caught up in.

Blake Griffin once jumped over not even the highest point of a Kia, and ended up winning the contest. Gordon jumped over Tacko Fall.

As in, the man who makes Shaquille O’Neal look like a relatively normal human. If Aaron Gordon ever did this in a game, he would have the chance to take the crown from Vince Carter‘s “dunk of the century“.

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That doesn’t automatically give him the right to win, but I was so surprised by the result after watching, that I conducted an experiment you can easily replicate yourself. Find somebody with no interest in basketball (in this case my girlfriend), sit them down, and simply ask them which looked like the harder and more entertaining dunks to pull off.

My particular subject said that every one of Gordon’s dunks were better, which also acknowledging that what Jones Jr. himself was doing was not easy (which again must not be forgotten in all of this). Perhaps if she had taken Wade’s place in Chicago, things would have shaken out differently.

What didn’t end up being any different on All-Star Saturday night, as before, was the result. But whereas the epic contest with Zach LaVine in 2016 was tough to stomach, LaVine was a worthy winner who brought it just as hard as Gordon did on the night.

This time however, a tandem from South Beach ensured he will never compete again, representing the Orlando Magic in All-Star Saturday’s premiere event. It’s the wrong way for his legacy with the competition to end, as Aaron Gordon practically made it relevant again himself.

He will not get a trophy for this, but as time goes by and we remove ourselves from this sorry episode, people will realize even more the ridiculousness of him retiring without winning.