Aaron Gordon's thunderous dunks once hinted at a potential revival of the endeared Slam Dunk Contest in 2016, but since his latest appearance in 2017, the Orlando Magic forward doesn't see himself coming back for a third time, at least not now.
“No, I’m not doing it [this year],” Gordon told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “It’s more focusing on winning and becoming a complete player and getting to the playoffs.”
While the dunk contest has blessed him with a household name, despite playing for a non-playoff team, Gordon made his money on this year's extension thanks to his progress beyond the 3-point line, not above the rim.
Gordon went from being a sub-30-percent shooter from distance to making a respectable 33.6 percent throughout last season after starting out at more than a 40 percent clip through the early get-go. His defense, playmaking and rebounding also saw improvement, which ultimately validated a four-year, $84 million investment from the franchise by way of a contract extension this summer.
The 6-foot-9 air-bender won't rule out a return to the bright lights in the future, though — leaving the door open for a potential call-up once he has tackled some personal and team goals ahead of him with his new contract.
“It’s fun, good exposure. I’ll do it again eventually,” said Gordon. “Not this year, though.”
Gordon has all the potential to become a double-double machine, but he's self-admittedly just grasping the concepts of fundamentals with boxing out and reading the trajectory of the ball off different spots on the floor.
As he evolves into his future self, there is a chance he could still participate in the dunk contest if he still has enough juice in his legs to throw down like he did in his second year in the league.
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