Utah Jazz rookie guard Donovan Mitchell put his elite bounce on display — again — to win the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night at Staples Center.
The contest-winning jam came with Mitchell dressed in Vince Carter Raptors gear, but Mitchell’s dunk certainly wasn’t quite as good as the Vinsanity classic.
But Mitchell still got a 48, and after he got a 50 — which is probalby also a bit generous — on the dunk before that:
Earlier in the contest, Mitchell used an extra backboard to throw down this jam:
And, in retro purple Jazz gear, Mitchell threw down this dunk jumping over Kevin Hart (which, isn’t very difficult if we’re being honest, but this was a nice dunk):
Mitchell edged out Larry Nance Jr., who paid tribute to his father in a very cool moment on his first dunk of the night. Larry Nance Sr. was the winner of the first-ever NBA dunk contest in 1984. Nance Jr. — now a member of the Cavs after being traded by the Lakers at the deadline — honored his dad by being decked out in old Suns gear, and throwing down this dunk:
Nance Jr.
Nance Sr.
— SB Nation (@SBNation) February 18, 2018
And Nance’s final dunk of the night was a 50 on this sweet double-tap slam:
Indiana Pacers All-Star Victor Oladipo missed plenty of dunks on the night, but he did pull out the Black Panther mask for one of them with Chadwick Boseman in the house (related: check out our review of Black Panther).
I honestly expected the actual dunks to be better on the night, but it was overall a fun event and that’s what NBA All-Star Weekend is all about.
Earlier in the night, Spencer Dinwiddie won the Skills Challenge, and Devin Booker went off for 28 in the final round to win the three-point contest.
[TNT]