Daylight Robbery? Aaron Gordon jumped over 7’5″ Tacko Fall and still lost the NBA Slam Dunk Contest

The 2016 NBA Slam Dunk Contest still feels like a daylight robbery for many NBA fans after the judges, quite controversially, crowned Zach LaVine as the winner. Not that he didn’t deserve, but Gordon was absolutely phenomenal on that day and deserved the trophy.

Four years on, and the feelings remain the same. A case of pure deja vu for the NBA fans, who were glued to their tv sets to see the athletes producing gravity-defying stunts, and producing unthinkable airborne acrobatics, and for all the fellow NBA players who witnessed the proceedings firsthand, and above all for Aaron Gordon himself.

It was so heartbreaking for the Orlando Magic star that he announced after the contest that he will no more be doing Slam Dunk Contests.

Aaron Gordon says he feels like he should have two trophies and likely won’t do the dunk contest again.

(via @Rachel__Nichols) pic.twitter.com/OET4do20dC

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 16, 2020

How the event unfolded?

The 2020 All-Star Dunk Contest was a four-player event, and with the potential to be a once-in-a-lifetime event for NBA fans and alike. The reason being the players participating. Orlando Magic’s Aaron Gordon was back after narrowly missing out in 2016, Miami Heat’s big man Derrick Jones also accepted the challenge again following a second-place finish in 2017, Milwaukee Bucks’s Pat Connaughton was a first-timer, while the superman Dwight Howard, winner of 2008 edition, was also back.

Howard and Connaughton produced some memorable moments and earned one score of 50, but neither could better the infallible Gordon and Jones.

Gordon was almost perfect in the previous rounds, duly receiving perfect scores in all of the previous rounds. Jones was equally impressive and earned one perfect score in the final round, to set-up another tie-breaking dunk-off.

Jones got the first opportunity in the second tie-breaker, and the Heat star chose to impersonate Michael Jordan’s 1988 memorable dunk as he dunked after going airborne from the free-throw line and earned 48 points from the judges.

To better Jones’ attempt, Gordon had to come out with something extraordinary and he did just that. It was not planned, but Gordon, after having a short discussion with Shaquille O’Neal, agreed to jump over 7-foot-5 Boston Celtics rookie Tacko Fall. To give some idea about the herculean effort, Fall is 7 feet 5 inches tall, and Gordon is 6 feet 8 inches.

Gordon finished the thunderous dunk and left almost everyone speechless inside the Target Center. But the judges, for some reasons unknown, awarded him only 47, and he lost by one point.

Unbelievable that Aaron Gordon dunked over 7'5" Tacko Fall and didn't get a 50.#ATTSlamDunk

(@ATT) pic.twitter.com/JTxKYCK7MO

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 16, 2020

After the contest, a dejected Gordon told the media that he won’t be participating in the Slam Dunk competition anymore.

“It’s a wrap, bro, it’s a wrap,” Gordon said. “I feel like I should have two trophies. It’s over for that. My next goal is going to try and win the three-point contest.”

What do you think about Gordon losing to Jones?