Utah Jazz stars Jordan Clarkson almost had a LeBron James-Dwyane Wade moment with Donovan Mitchell on Saturday against the Washington Wizards, but he decided to pass up on it. His reason? He knows they can't afford to botch the shot and miss given their small lead at the time.
Clarkson connected with Mitchell late in the third quarter of the contest when the former Los Angeles Lakers guard broke away from the pack and quickly transitioned to offense. With Mitchell right behind him, he knew it was the perfect opportunity for an alley-oop slam.
Mitchell, for his part, more than obliged and deliver a rather beautiful windmill dunk for the Jazz.
The oop & the finish 👀#TakeNote | @spidadmitchell pic.twitter.com/piyjDeF8V9
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) December 12, 2021
However after the game, Jordan Clarkson admitted he thought of throwing the ball off the backboard and having an iconic moment with Donovan Mitchell like the one Dwyane Wade had with LeBron James during their time with the Miami Heat.
Like the DWade-LeBron dunk, it would have made for a picture-perfect scene. Nonetheless, it was just too difficult to do for Clarkson and his Jazz star teammate since there is a risk of missing the shot with some Wizards players having already transitioned to defense.
Jordan Clarkson, who entered his postgame session wearing sunglasses and swigging a beer, said when he threw the alley-oop to Don, he had visions of going off the backboard and having a D-Wade/LeBron moment, but figured they couldn’t afford to blow a potential transition bucket.
— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) December 12, 2021
While it was certainly a huge missed opportunity, it's hard not to give credit to Clarkson for trying. It was clear he had the right idea, just that it was too risky to try.
But hey, maybe next time JC! The important thing is that the Jazz won and blew out the Wizards in the process, 123-98.
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