With all the NBA draft hype surrounding Ben Simmons, it would be easy to overlook the significance of Philadelphia’s other first round draft pick, Furkan Korkmaz.
USA Today took some time to help us break down his strengths. All the normal measurables are there. He’s a shooting guard. He’s 19 years old. He’s 6-foot-7. And he’ll hopefully be the perfect fit to one day run their offense through. He’s a great ball handler, he’s got length, and he’s a knock-down shooter from deep. Sure there are some concerns on the defensive end, and the questions about whether he has the foot speed to keep up with other elite guards. But most importantly, he dressed up like Darth Vader for a dunk contest once! That alone is worth a first-round pick.
Cue Kenny Smith and Charlest Barkley! In this clip there’s the lighting, the theatrics, the carefully planned moves with his Jedi, and then Korkmaz pumps the ball in the air and dunks both hands behind his head. He even loses his mask and some costume pieces fall off his shoes.
It’s a solid dunk, and it’s impressive that he did it with the Darth Vader mask on, but could it rival Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine? The Slam Dunk Contest rivalry needs a little taste of the Dark Side.
(Via USA Today)
