Back in the early days of last season, Larry Nance Jr. turned a lot of heads with a vicious poster dunk he threw down on Brook Lopez when he was still a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Many thought of it as the dunk of the year and could deservingly win that award.
However, as it turned out, he was only the runner-up, with Victor Oladipo’s slam over Dwight Howard named the best of 2016.
Before Saturday’s Slam Dunk Contest, the 25-year-old Wyoming product was asked by Brian Scalabrine if he won the award or not. Nance fired back by telling him he already knew the answer to that before making it known that he feels he got robbed of the honor as he knew what he pulled off against Lopez is something truly special, via a video posted by Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports.
Larry Nance Jr. was one of four participants in the event on Saturday night. He gave a good account of himself and showed everyone that like his father, Larry Nance Sr., he can throw down some mean and creative dunks.
He made it to the championship round but was bested by Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell, who won the trophy after completing a 360 windmill dunk inspired by Vince Carter’s iconic throwdown 18 years ago.
It may be frustrating for Nance to always finish in second place, but he knows that winning a title is far more valuable than the Dunk of the Year or even the Slam Dunk Contest. Now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he is part of a serious contender and will have the chance to earn a championship in his very first season with them. The real test for him will be in the playoffs though, where he is expected to be a solid contributor for the Wine and Gold and give them a spark off the bench night in and night out.
