This year's NBA All-Star Saturday Night could go down as the best the league "has ever put together," according to Chris O'Leary of the TORONTO STAR. Warriors Gs Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry were "slugging it out in the final of the three-point contest," while T'Wolves G Zach LaVine and Magic F Aaron Gordon "engaged in a dunk contest that went to overtime." What LaVine and Gordon "put on brought life to an event that's been an afterthought" in the lead-up to All-Star Weekend. O'Leary: "It was an A-plus, plus, plus night, maybe the benchmark for all other all-star Saturday's going forward" (TORONTO STAR, 2/14). ESPN’s Adnan Virk said, “Some people have thought the dunk contest has become passé, but Zach LaVine and Eric Gordon put on an incredible show.” ESPN's Mike Golic said, "The way Aaron Gordon was using Stuff, the Orlando mascot, was incredible. ... The dunk contest really came back again a little bit Saturday night” ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 2/15). In Toronto, Mike Ganter notes '16 will be remembered as the "year the dunk contest became relevant again." Ganter: "You have to go back to 2000, when Vince Carter put the league on its head with his creative and athletic dunking display, to find anything close to similar" (TORONTO SUN, 2/15). In Boston, Gary Washburn writes the "duel that transpired" between LaVine and Gordon "was perhaps the best dunk show in league history." LaVine helped "reinvigorate a dunk contest that has been heavily criticized for lack of excitement" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/15). In L.A., Ben Bolch wrote LaVine and Gordon "brought the long-comatose dunk contest back to life." The "never-before-seen moves kept coming and so did the perfect scores" (L.A. TIMES, 2/14).
PRESENT MEETS THE PAST: ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said the LaVine-Gordon battle was the "best slam dunk contest I have seen since Michael Jordan versus Dominique Wilkins in ’88.” Smith: "“I had given up on the slam dunk contest. I was done. I was getting to the point that, between the actual gam itself and the slam dunk contest, I was kind of wondering what the hell was the purpose of All-Star Weekend, because the only thing I was interested in seeing was the three-point contest." But he added, "The slam dunk contest was resurrected Saturday night" (“First Take,” ESPN2, 2/15). CBSSPORTS.com's James Herbert wrote fans "will not forget" the dunk contest. It will "be up there with" Carter in '00 and Michael Jordan vs. Dominique Wilkins in '88. Herbert: "If you were in the arena, you felt the anticipation" (CBSSPORTS.com, 2/14). In Toronto, Ryan Wolstat added the dunk event was the "best run in the long history of the contest" (TORONTO SUN, 2/14). SI.com's Ben Golliver noted the dunk contest "will be remembered as one of the greatest shows in NBA history." The standout elements of this contest "were its length and drama" (SI.com, 2/14). USA TODAY's Mike Bohn added the final round was "one of the most memorable" in recent memory (USATODAY.com, 2/14).
WHATCHA GOT? ESPN L.A.'s Arash Markazi tweeted, "Love Zach LaVine. Said he'd win the Slam Dunk contest the day he was drafted but Aaron Gordon had two of the best dunks I've ever seen." The Denver Post's Troy Renck tweeted, "Gordon and LaVine have breathed life back into slam dunk contest Damn." Meanwhile, ESPN's Darren Rovell tweeted, "Slam Dunk Contest evolves when NBA puts its largest social media following to use. Gets rid of judges & allows world to vote in real time" (TWITTER.com, 2/13).
