Derrick Jones Jr. is an exceptionally gifted athlete, and the Phoenix Suns’ rookie out of UNLV will put that athleticism on display for the NBA world on All-Star Saturday Night in the dunk contest.
The past two dunk contests have been phenomenal, with Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon breathing new life to the competition, and have brought back memories of the best dunk contests in NBA history. Of all of those great contests, few stand out quite like 2000 when Vince Carter put on a show for the ages.
Carter’s performance was unforgettable and produced some of the most iconic images in dunk contest history.
With LaVine out of this year’s contest, Derrick Jones Jr. is looking to fill his spot as the tall, lanky guard that soars through the air effortlessly, while also throwing it down with authority. Jones has given us a taste of what we could see in Suns warmups recently, but we don’t know exactly what he has up his sleeve for Saturday night.
A quick shot of Jones at his locker on TNT’s pregame show for the All-Star Saturday Night festivities may have offered up a clue for one of the dunks we’ll see from Jones, as what appears to be a throwback Raptors jersey (presumably Vince Carter’s) was hung up behind him over his left shoulder.
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/833114712426631168
He’d have five dunks to choose from for a tribute dunk if that is indeed his plan for that jersey, and any of them would be incredible. My guess is it’s the arm in the rim dunk, as Jones has crazy enough bounce to pull that off.
