Tyler Honeycutt won Turkish Dunk Contest, $2500 jumping over five players that measure 6-8 and 6-3. pic.twitter.com/miIAR3eBCn
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) January 15, 2017
UCLA and Sacramento Kings fans may remember Tyler Honeycutt, a 6’8 forward whose length and athleticism made him an intriguing prospect when he came into the NBA in 2011. However, Honeycutt was never able to put it all together in the Association and is currently playing overseas in Turkey.
Whether Honeycutt will ever make it back to the NBA remains to be seen, but at the very least, he proved that he deserves the opportunity to compete in the dunk contest somewhere down the line. Honeycutt took home the title of dunk contest champion in the Turkish Basketball Super League by leaping over five other basketball players – all between 6’3 and 6’8 – and throwing down.
Watching players jump over people to dunk isn’t too uncommon – the best dunk at the 2016 NBA Dunk Contest was arguably Aaron Gordon leaping over the Orlando Magic’s mascot. But Honeycutt brought it to the next level by propelling himself over five people. So not only did he jump high, but he had some serious hang time, as he took off from one step inside of the free throw line. The most impressive part may be that he didn’t even seem like he came close to hitting anyone while he was in the air, which seems impossible.
The 2017 NBA Dunk Contest will hopefully be a rematch of last year’s battle between Gordon and Zach LaVine. They will compete for the title of best dunker on earth … well, a title that they may need to wrestle away from Honeycutt.
