"I was watching him just glide": Aaron Gordon's dunk is an all-time slam

Think about the circumstances Aaron Gordon was dealing with in overtime.

It was only a one-point game. The Nuggets were clinging to a 124-123 lead with less than 30 seconds on the clock. It was a classic situation where Denver would typically milk the possession. It was one of those points in the game where Nikola Jokic would usually direct everyone into their proper position on the court, conduct the Nuggets’ two-man pick-and-roll game from the top of the 3-point arc and leave the Suns with as little time remaining as possible.

Gordon had another idea.

“It was a loose, ball,” Gordon said as he began recapping the sequence. “KP caught the rebound, and then it came to me. You can’t do take fouls anymore, so I was able to get out around the outside. Then I saw I had a 2-on-1 with me and Joker, You know you’ve got to play Joker and play a little cat-and-mouse game. As soon as I saw them play that little cat and mouse game and hesitate on who (the defender) was going to go to, I was like, I’m just going to take off.”

Gordon’s decision to push the issue resulted in the dunk of the year. Considering the situation and the volume of the moment, on national TV on Christmas Day, it was an all-time slam.

EVERY ANGLE OF AARON GORDON'S RIDICULOUS DUNK OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE 🎬🤯 pic.twitter.com/bFEzWMvRHD

— NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2022

Gordon first got past Mikal Bridges at half-court. Then when Landry Shamet didn’t commit to him and the ball, Gordon picked up his dribble at the 3-point line, gathered with two feet, and threw down a rim-rocking jam over Shamet that set a sell-out crowd at Ball Arena off.

“He stepped over and kind of like bumped me,” Gordon said of Shamet. “And it raised me up a little bit higher.”

“I was open,” joked Jokic.

“I didn’t think he was going to dunk it,” said Murray. “It was a 3-on-2 and he didn’t show he was going to dunk it. He was just running and he just jumped.”

But then, confusion. Referee Matt Boland called a charge on Gordon. The Nuggets forward stood for a few moments under the basket he had just destroyed dazed and confused.

The crowd was stunned.

The Nuggets were furious.

“I’m thinking it’s an and-1,” Gordon said afterward.

Luckily, the officials took another look. Denver had already used its challenge, but a little-known rule that allows referees to review a play where the defender may have drawn a charge in the restricted area, as long as it’s in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, gave the dunk new life. Tony Brothers took another look and reversed the ruling.

“That Aaron Gordon dunk was, damn,” Michael Malone said. “I’m just glad they reviewed it and made the right call.”

Murray said Gordon’s slam reminded him of his 2020, one-handed poster over DJ Wilson that he was whistled for a charge on.

“I was like no way they called an offensive foul,” Murray said.

After a short review, the call was overturned and the basket stood.

Pandemonium ensued.

Ball Arena erupted.

“From my angle, I was watching him just glide,” Murray said. “That’s crazy. Dunk of the year for sure.”

Gordon has had some monster dunks throughout his 10-year NBA career. He’d had some memorable ones in dunk contests too. Gordon has scored eight 50-point dunks in dunk contests. It’s the most 50-point dunks of all time. That’s one more than both Michael Jordan and Zach LaVine, who both have seven to their name.

Of course, Gordon has never won a dunk contest. It’s why he currently wears No. 50, the number that signifies a perfect dunk contest score.

Because of time and score, Gordon believes this was his best-ever in-game slam.

“AG, was that a 50?” Gordon was asked postgame.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe a 49.”