It takes a special breed of athlete to stand out among the world’s best athletes, but that’s exactly what Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant did in the first half of Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game. In his first All-Star appearance, Morant threw down two insane dunks that showed off the vertical leap and creativity of the 6-3 budding superstar.
The first came on a lob from Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young. Morant came flying down the lane, contorting his body in the air to eventually throw down a reverse jam with his head practically at the rim.
The next one came late in the second quarter, when Young once again found Morant, this time from half-court. Catching the ball and stuffing home another reverse didn’t seem good enough to Morant, so he decided to complete a full 360 in mid-air for one of the most jaw-dropping moments of the night.
The dunks were especially notable after the disastrous Slam Dunk Contest from the previous night, in which the contestants combined to shoot 28 percent (7 for 25) on their dunk attempts in the first round. It was the first NBA dunk contest since 2001 in which no dunks received a perfect score, and was quickly dubbed the “worst dunk contest ever” by many on Twitter, with a corresponding hashtag that made the rounds.
Needless to say, Morant quickly allowed us all to forget about Saturday night’s disappointment with his two highlight dunks in the first half. In the middle of a breakout season, Morant is averaging 26.8 points, 6.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game while leading the surprising Grizzlies to a 41-19 record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
