Charlotte’s Gerald Henderson didn’t just jump from outside the circle to throw down the most eye-opening, unexpected power dunk of the year on Tuesday night; he made Laker Antawn Jamison — an opponent and archrival Tar Heel to Henderson’s Blue Devil — leap off his own bench involuntarily because of it. I — and I’d be willing to bet almost anyone watching this game — didn’t know Henderson still had his college-era hops in him, but because of those long-recessed hops we now have a bona fide Dunk of the Year contender near the top rung.
Certainly Dwight Howard didn’t expect it, the center remaining so thoroughly frozen by surprise that I’m not sure we can say he was dunked on without a shred of a contest. I can only speak for myself, but maybe the very best thing about this dunk is that I know the elite dunks of the NBA can still draw out emotion from me. After being de-sensitized by so many strong Blake Griffin slams the past three seasons, this dunk got me literally out of my chair. Kind of like Antawn.
What do you think?
Follow Andrew on Twitter at @AndrewGreif.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
