Derrick Jones Jr. deserves a little leeway when it comes to dunks. After all, he is the winner of the Slam Dunk Contest and, with a nickname like Airplane Mode, he can certainly fly. But there is a time and place for big dunks, and a deficit of 23 points in the second half is not one of them.
In the third quarter of the Los Angeles Clippers’ sweeping victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, Jones saw an outstanding opportunity, despite his team losing a lot. He received a pass from Damian Lillard and fired for the dunk, but received his punishment when he failed to finish the slam.
To be fair to Jones, he gets a good percentage of the top dunk he tries. He wouldn’t have won a dunk contest if he hadn’t. He’s athletic enough to make plays like this, and the dunk of the year candidates have to come with a high degree of difficulty. In Michael Scott’s famous words (via Wayne Gretzky), you lose 100% of the photos you don’t take. Jones attempted a memorable dunk and was ridiculously short.
And given the situation of the game, there is a little bit of karma involved in that. Yes, such a slam may have generated some momentum and potentially helped trigger a comeback, but realistically, when you lose 23 points, you only need your kicks to enter. Don’t be extravagant. Don’t look for highlights. Just put the ball in the ring. Jones didn’t do it here, and it created one of the funniest low points at the start of the season.