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Minnesota Timberwolves: When Zach LaVine Imploded Twitter

By Thomas Shefchik

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Feb 14, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard

Zach LaVine

(left) receives the trophy after winning the 2015 NBA All Star Slam Dunk Contest competition at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

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Most things in life do not live up to the hype, especially in sports. Then, there is Zach LaVine in the NBA Dunk Contest.

As I have mentioned previously, LaVine came into the contest as the prohibitive favorite and already had acquitted himself well in the Rising Stars Game. Still, no matter how many awesome YouTube videos he had out or how great of an athlete he is, there is a lot of pressure to perform when you are the guy to beat. Only you never would have known it watching LaVine on Saturday night.

Although Victor Oladipo‘s first round dunk was very nice, I was basically just patiently waiting for LaVine’s turn. The wait was well worth it:

That’s one of the most unbelievable dunks of all-time. We’ve all seen in-between the legs before but to do it while swooping under the basket is new on me. The best part: He had to duck to avoid creaming his head against the rim. Human beings are not supposed to be able to fly like that.

Naturally, both the Barclay’s Center and Twitter exploded when he put it down. The players, including Andrew Wiggins and Shabazz Muhammad, had to hold each other back:

Teddy Bridgewater knew what time it was, before and after the first dunk:

Meanwhile, Dr. J didn’t even know what to do with himself:

As for myself, I was right there with the Doctor. I sat in stunned silence watching replay after replay, finally breaking into maniacal laughter because nothing made sense anymore. It was probably for the best that I was watching by myself because I had all the markers of an insane person for about five or ten minutes.

The crazy thing is that his second dunk may have been even better:

If anyone has caught the ball of the bounce, brought it behind his back then tomahawked it home I certainly don’t remember it. Once again, his head was as high as the rim. LaVine is tall in comparison to me but not NBA players. His vertical is absolutely otherworldly.

The crazy thing is that he set the bar so obscenely high for himself that the fans did not lose it quite as much on his championship round dunks despite a very high degree of difficulty on both. He had a little help from his friends Wiggins and Muhammad.

Here, see for yourself:

Either way, he had completely stolen the night and won the contest in a runaway.

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The has been more reaction in the days since. Mike Greenberg of ESPN proclaimed that he saved the dunk contest with his performance on Saturday night. In my opinion, the dunk contest can be one of the worst events in sports if the talent is not up for it but can also be one of the best when someone puts on a legendary performance like LaVine did.

I have heard some scuttlebutt along the line of, “Yeah, he’s a great dunker but he isn’t a good NBA player yet.” So what? Everyone around here hopes he makes it in this league and he certainly has all the physical tools to do it. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. I’ve also heard people shoot him down because they don’t think his performance was as legendary as Vince Carter’s in 2000. Again, I think that misses the point. It was an insanely fun night. Why can’t he and us enjoy an awesome night in the middle of another terrible Wolves season without attaching disclaimers to it?

He unleashed one of the greatest dunk contest performances of all-time and no one can take that away from him.

Next: Wiggins and LaVine Steal Rising Stars Show

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