Aaron Gordon wears No. 50 for the Denver Nuggets of because how many of his dunk contest slams have gotten a perfect score of 50 in the past.
Gordon was in the 2016, 2017 and 2020 editions of the competitions, finishing runner-up twice. Many believed he should’ve won and not Zach LaVine in 2016 and then again in 2020 when Dwyane Wade did some hometown scoring for the Heat’s Derrick Jones Jr.
Scorned by the scoring Gordon has avoided the competition the past few years. Now a Denver Nuggets forward, he is having a career year and is a borderline All-Star. He told Sports Illustrated on Thursday that his sitting out may turn to jumping right back in.
“If I’m in the All-Star Game, I’ll do the dunk contest,” Gordon said to the media outlet.
The last Nugget to participate in the dunk contest was Will Barton in 2016.
Gordon is vying to become the first All-Star to play next to consecutive MVP-winner Nikola Jokic. Jokic is the lone two-time MVP in NBA history to have never played with an All-Star by age 27.
Gordon, 27, is in his ninth season since being drafted fourth overall out of Arizona in 2014. He would be the sixth all-star of his draft class, joining Jokic, Joel Embiid, Zach LaVine, Julius Randle and Andrew Wiggins, two of which were selected ahead of him.
Gordon is scoring 16.5 points, grabbing 6.8 boards and adding 2.6 assists per game while shooting 59% from the field and 38% from deep. The only two players in the NBA bettering that statline as of Thursday are Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis.
Gordon doesn’t stand a chance of being voted into the All-Star Game by fans, based off the final poll. There’s a decent chance Gordon gets named an All-Star by his peers or coaches, especially if the Nuggets remain atop the west.
Very few people would’ve guessed Gordon would make an All-Star game before Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. but it speaks to how good AG is, supplying enough fire as a fourth option that he’s producing like robin next to Jokic’s batman.
And aside from probably deserving to be in the game, wouldn’t it be fun to have the author of the NBA’s dunk of the season in the game made for highlights plus also throwing it down the night before? Gordon’s 109 dunks are fourth-best in the NBA, just three behind leader Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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