Family History: The Indiana Pacers and the dunk contest

Victor Oladipo looks to add to the Indiana Pacers’ rich history in the dunk contest this year in Los Angeles.

Victor Oladipo has been to the dunk contest before. Or, to put it more accurately, a different, Magic’d-up Oladipo — before the body transformation, before he was given his own team, before he joined Indiana Pacers.

That was 2015, and he placed in second behind the Tune Squad’s Zach LaVine. Someone thought having Mason Plumlee there would be a good idea — he placed third, above only Giannis, who would have presumably won a dunk contest focused around in-transition, over-fools kinda dunks.

Take a look at Dipo’s performance:

It was, eh, disappointing. While no one’s ever gonna have barroom debates centered around LaVine robbing Dipo of the trophy, had Dipo completed his dunks in the way he had envisioned them, there might be a legitimate argument to be had. But a good Dunk Idea without the good Dunk Execution does not make for a Good Dunk.

Will Victor Oladipo exact his revenge?

Dipo likely learned something from his 2015 performance: Stick to the dunks you know are going down. Nothing kills the momentum of a dunk contest like several missed dunks, followed by some kind of weak concession dunk — and no dunker wants to be blamed for killing a dunk contest’s momentum.

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A Dipo win on February 17th would be the Pacers’ third dunk contest win and second consecutive, after Glenn “Overly Dedicated” Robinson III took home the honor last year in a contest only Glenn seemed to be particularly psyched for (still though, Pacers fans were stoked for him).

Injuries will, unfortunately, keep Glenn from attempting to defend his crown, but Mr. Feathery is arguably a better fit anyway against a field that includes the Magic’s Aaron Gordon (third appearance), the Lakers’ Larry Nance Jr, and Mavs rookie, Dennis Smith Jr. — the most Jr-heavy year in contest history.

Any of these guys are capable of going home dunk champ, though Aaron Gordon has gotta be the favorite — his lackluster performance last year left the lane wide-open for GRIII to win (and sure, the lane is literally wide-open during a dunk contest — it’s just an expression, albeit one I ought to have changed).

Dennis Smith Jr is, well, Dennis Smith Jr. And Larry Nance Jr is an absolute monster of the in-game Statue of Liberty, and his father, the OG Larry Nance, won the inaugural NBA dunk contest in 1984.