If you missed the NBA All State Dunk Contest over the weekend, it is probably because there has not been a good one in about a decade. I myself DVRd the contest with an unknown actual viewing date in mind.

Thankfully, I began to tune in later that night as I had nothing else planned.

Jordan made the contest popular with his iconic dunk from the free throw stripe, which gives us the jumpman symbol you now see on his shoes. Yes, the picture that heads this article...is that very dunk.

In recent years... props, including Blake Griffen bringing out an entire KIA car to dunk over, have been the highlights of the competition. These, although creative, have not been the greatest of all dunks. More so, they are not what the contest is all about.

The last good display of freakish dunks I recall came from Vince Carter making dunk after dunk on his first try with huge degree of difficulty. Since that time the props, outfits, and entourages have overshadowed much of the event.

Unfortunately, for you, if you did not tune in the other night..you may have missed one of the best head to head dunk offs ever. It brought back the dunk...and only minimal props...getting back to the contest's roots while putting on a memorable show.

Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic squared off against Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves after getting by the initial rounds. 

Both then got on fire hitting amazing dunk after amazing dunk posting perfect 50 scores. Both went back and forth well past the usual amount of dunks needed to win. Since the judges could not score the impressive flushes any less, or more, than 50...the show went on.

Gordon relied heavily on his helper the Magic Mascot, while LaVine did most of his work from the free throw line. 

Gordon's best dunk was a hop over the mascot while simultaneously putting the ball under both of his legs in a seated position...before flushing it down. 

To me...and many, it was the dunk of the night, and will go down as one of the best of all time in the contest. 

LaVine was no disappointment hitting lengthy free throw line dunks that included a windmill and even through the legs from the stripe. 

In the end he won the contest with that between the legs flush, but only after both ran out of ideas and Gordon tried getting creative using the shotclock for assistance. When that plan failed, he just had to get a dunk down..

This left the door open for LaVine to get his dunk down on this first try and close things out.

Someone should have brought out 2 trophies and declared co-champs, but in the end the NBA succeeded in continuing to show why their all star break is one to tune in to. I personally will not underestimate it again. 

Picture:https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/4950349054/in/photolist-8xrQi...