“It's a wrap.” Aaron Gordon is done with the dunk contest after losing another controversial one, this time to Derrick Jones Jr. of the Miami Heat.
Shortly after Gordon announced his retirement from the high-flying competition, Derrick Jones Jr. of the Heat did not take long to challenge him to a rematch, according to Rachel Nichols of ESPN.
Interviewed Derrick Jones Jr for @SportsCenter – he said if Aaron Gordon thinks he should have won, he’s welcome to come back for a rematch next year. 👀
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) February 16, 2020
Gordon said he is done with the dunk contest after a controversial finish to Saturday night's classic showdown with Jones Jr.
The Orlando Magic forward certainly thinks he should have won – and he's not alone, by the way – after scoring perfect scores throughout his first five dunks. He appeared to have the contest in the bag after his second tie-breaker dunk where he rose above the 7-foot-5 Tacko Fall.
However, three judges awarded him a score of 9 for that dunk, putting his total at 47, a point short of Jones Jr.'s 48 in his free-throw line (not quite because he had one foot in, but it's impressive nonetheless) windmill dunk finale.
The entire United Center crowd in Chicago instantly gasped in shock over the controversial result. Many certainly thought Aaron Gordon should have won over Derrick Jones after putting on arguably one of the all-time great performances in dunk contest history.
Former players turned TV analysts Reggie Miller and Kenny “The Jet” Smith were not shy about voicing out their opinions on air, saying that the winner of the Heat's main dunker over the Magic's snake-bitten star was “highway robbery.” Likewise, fans and players took to Twitter to express their disappointment with the result.
Derrick Jones Jr. sure did put on an amazing performance himself, representing the Heat. But considering what Aaron Gordon had already gone through before and putting on yet another classic performance, AG definitely deserved to take this one home.
As for that rematch, we most likely won't see that anymore. Can you blame Aaron Gordon, though, especially after being on the wrong of two Dunk Contest robberies already?
And no, that challenge won't work. Aaron Gordon doesn't need to prove anything at this point anymore. Derrick Jones of the Heat can prove to everyone that he won the slam-dunk contest.
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