Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade is planning to run his own team soon and it could be the Miami Heat. Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat and Team LeBron follows through on a three point shot against Team Giannis in the first quarter during the NBA All-Star game as part of the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend at Spectrum Center on February 17, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Getty Images/Streeter Lecka

KEY POINTS

  • Fans are accusing Dwyane Wade of biased judging towards Miami teammate Derrick Jones, Jr.
  • Jones, Jr. won the dunk contest over Aaron Gordon, 48-47
  • Gordon jumped over 7-foot-7 Tacko Fall for a dunk off two-hands

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest lived up to its billing as the dunk-off between Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic and Derrick Jones, Jr. of the Miami Heat was heard all over the world.

The dunk contest also saw the return of Los Angeles Lakers’ center Dwight Howard to the competition after over a decade. He’s won the 2008 edition of the contest during the annual event held in New Orleans. Also seeing for the first time in the competition is Milwaukee Bucks’ forward Pat Connaughton, whom the Bucks named the hashtag #LetPatDunk.

Howard performed the dunk that named him the champion in 2008 but he’s wearing a slightly different suit – a no. 24 inside the pentagon on his chest.

The act, however, didn’t make him advance to the final round after scoring a total of 90 (41 and 49) in the first two rounds while Connaughton had 95 (45 and 50) in the same number of made attempts. The former Fighting Irish jumped over teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo, hit the board with the ball before throwing it down with both hands.

Jones, Jr. narrowly beat the Milwaukee wingman by one point (46 and 50) while Gordon had a perfect 100 (50 and 50) to book their slots in the final round.

The Miami Heat forward did a left-handed windmill a foot inside the free-throw line and got a 48 from the panel – Candace Parker and Chadwick Boseman gave him a 9 – and that dunk made Jones feel uncomfortable, whether on the way he executed the dunk or on the score that he got.

And Chicago went up on their feet when the Orlando magic highlight reel called out Tacko Fall – the tallest player in the league – and jumped over his 7-foot-7 body (7-foot-5 without sneakers) but that, however, didn’t get a 50 as Dwyane Wade, Boseman and Scottie Pippen gave him a 9 for a 47-point total.

While the fans are a bit stunned after the results came out, Twitter is smoking hot and they are pointing fingers on D-Wade, who is a teammate of Jones in his final season in the league. The two even made an in-game highlight against the Atlanta Hawks last year.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPN shared on Twitter that she spoke with Common, one of the judges along with Wade, Parker, Boseman, and Pippen, and said that he thought it was a tie but “somebody didn’t do it right.

Then, the floodgates opened.

While former teammate Mario Hezonja and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes also shared a piece of their minds.

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