Slam Dunk Legend Sets Interesting Condition On His 2023 Participation

He's a Slam Dunk Contest legend in the NBA, even though he's never officially won the competition. But in the eyes of fans, his 2016 performance, while with the Orlando Magic, was a winner. Now Aaron Gordon, with the Denver Nuggets, is having a stellar season as one of the team's best players as they lead the Western Conference.

He was robbed of the dunking title in 2016, and maybe again in 2020, and fans would be clamoring for him to compete again.

Gordon says, sure, he'll be in the Dunk Contest next month, but on one condition:

Aaron Gordon: “If I’m in the All-Star Game, I’ll do the Dunk Contest” pic.twitter.com/iZ2DWBiCog
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) January 20, 2023

“If I’m in the All-Star Game, I’ll do the Dunk Contest," was Gordon's response.

One could certainly argue that he's having an All-Star-worthy season, as Nikola Jokic's sidekick in helping Denver to a West-best 33-13 record, the 2nd-best mark in the entire NBA. Gordon is averaging 16.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and shooting a tick under 38% from the three-point line.

But there are a lot of deserving frontcourt players in the Western Conference, and after Jokic, LeBron James and either Anthony Davis or Zion Williamson (who are the top four in the fan vote), he might have to beat out some other very worthy names like Domantas Sabonis, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jerami Grant.

And yes, his dunk contest heroics came a few years ago, but lest anyone thinks that Gordon can't still rise to the occasion, he pulled off one of the NBA's in-game dunks of the year less than a month ago: