Derrick Jones Jr. of the Miami Heat defeated Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic in the 2020 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, despite Gordon jumping over 7-foot-5 Tacko Fall.
The two players were tied at the end of the finals and had to go to a tiebreaker round, which also ended in a tie.
Finally, Jones Jr. and Gordon had one dunk each to determine a champion.
Here is Jones Jr.’s final dunk from inside the free-throw line that received a score of 48:
The score of 48 left the door open for Gordon to win.
After being turned down for help by Shaquille O’Neal, Gordon turned to Fall.
Here is Gordon’s final dunk over Fall that received a score of 47:
Before the 47, Gordon had received five 50s in a row.
Players and the crowd were all shocked that Gordon’s final dunk didn’t get a 50, just look at Giannis Antetokounmpo’s reaction:
Gordon’s dunk over Fall wasn’t planned, according to Fall himself.
“I was scared for my life,” Fall said.
Gordon felt robbed in the end.
“Jumping over somebody 7-foot-5 and dunking is no easy feat,” Gordon said. “What did I get, like a 47? Come on, man. What are we doing?”
Gordon did wish, however, that he would have jumped a little higher.
“I should have let it rip a little bit more, I guess,” Gordon said. “If I put a little bit more effort into it, I would have gotten a higher score.”
There was some speculation among the broadcasters that it should have ended in a tie with both players getting the trophy, with LeBron James echoing the same thought.
After losing two controversial dunk contests in 2016 and this year, Gordon said he’ll never do the dunk contest again, as his goal is to try and win the three-point contest next.
Gordon will go down as the greatest dunker to not win a slam dunk contest.
