The NBA dunk contest was highly controversial
People are very upset about the NBA dunk contest.
The Miami Heat's Derrick Jones Jr. won the event Saturday during the NBA's All-Star Weekend, outlasting the Orlando Magic's Aaron Gordon, but the victory came with a lot of controversy.
After advancing to the final, Jones and Gordon each received perfect scores, and they did so again during the first dunk-off, setting up a second tie-breaker. Jones' dunk in that round garnered a score of 48 out of 50 from the judges, while Gordon's — in which he jumped over 7-foot-5 Boston Celtic center Tacko Fall — only notched a 47 even though two of the judges, hip hop artist Common and WNBA star Candace Parker, who gave Gordon a perfect 10 said the panel had previously agreed to end that round in a tie, as well.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Gordon, who felt he deserved to win, said he's done with the dunk contest after losing in the similarly controversial 2016 edition. "I feel like I should have two trophies," he said. "It's over for that."
The crowd was booing the judges all the night, and several of Gordon's NBA colleagues felt justice wasn't served.
Even Jones thought his 48 in the final was unfair, though he does believe the fact that Gordon clipped Fall's head on the way up validated his competitor's lack of a perfect score.
Anyway, check out the final two displays of athleticism below that spurred all the furor. Tim O'Donnell
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Swiss bliss: Chenot Palace Weggis takes wellness to the next level
The Blend Heath retreat on Switzerland's Lake Lucerne offers a mid-winter reset
By Felix Bischof Published
-
Earth's mini-moon was the moon all along
Under the radar More lunar rocks are likely floating in space
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: February 4, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Indian teen is youngest world chess champion
Speed Read Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, unseated China's Ding Liren
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Europe roiled by attacks on Israeli soccer fans
Speed Read Israeli fans supporting the Maccabi Tel Aviv team clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters in 'antisemitic attacks,' Dutch authorities said
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York wins WNBA title, nearly nabs World Series
Speed Read The Yankees with face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the upcoming Fall Classic
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Caitlin Clark the No. 1 pick in bullish WNBA Draft
Speed Read As expected, she went to the Indiana Fever
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
South Carolina ends perfect season with NCAA title
Speed Read The women's basketball team won a victory over superstar Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Iowa's Caitlin Clark breaks NCAA scoring record
speed read College basketball star Caitlin Clark set the new record in Iowa's defeat of Ohio State
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Eight-year-old Brit Bodhana Sivanandan makes chess history
Speed Read Sivanandan has been described as a 'phenomenon' by chess masters
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Watch Simone Biles win her record 8th US gymnastics championship
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published