Aaron Gordon Press Conference Transcript: Gordon Won’t Do Dunk Contest Again After Controversial Loss

Aaron Gordon: (00:00)
Man, what are we doing man? What’s going on?

Sherrod Blakely: (00:02)
What are we doing?

Exactly.

What are we doing?

What are we doing, man? Who set the dunk contest up, man? Who set this up? All right. What’s up?

You ready?

Yeah.

Sherrod Blakely, ABC Sports, Boss and I just, obviously, this was a great back and forth between you two. In that last session you decide to bring Tacko Fall into the mix, take us through the decision to add Tacko to the mix and were you as surprised as some were with the judging?

Oh yeah, definitely. I wanted to jump over Shaq. He didn’t want to do it. So, it was really for the people. Everybody was like, “Tacko, Tacko.” It’s like, “All right, cool. Let’s do it, man. The tallest dude in the gym.” Jumping over somebody that’s 7’5″. Or how tall? He’s about that tall?

Speaker 3: (00:43)
7’5″ with no shoes.

Yeah, 7’5″. Jumping over somebody 7’5″ and dunking is no easy feat. You know what I mean? So, what’d I get, like a 47?

47.

47? Come on, man. What are we doing?

Speaker 3: (01:00)
Back right.

Speedy Morman: (01:02)
Over here. Speedy Morman from Complex. I’m curious as to where you think he ranks as a competitor in the dunk contest as opposed to Zack Levine, where we saw in 2016.

Bro, it’s really similar. They got similar bounce. You saw he did the windmill from the free throw line. The dopest one he did I think was off the glass, over somebody, through the legs. That was super tough. That was super tough, but yeah, I mean, he’s a leaper man. He’s a leaper. He gets up. Great dunker, obviously. Got to be great to win a dunk contest, so.

Speaker 3: (01:40)
Right here in the center. Second row.

Ariel: (01:42)
Hey Aaron, my name is Ariel from Mexico, from Nacion Grafica. Thanks first, for this epic battle that you have every time that you are in a dunk contest, it’s something epic. What’s your recommendation for jumping as high as you do always? For like people that always want to jump more-

You want to learn how to dunk?

Ariel: (02:03)
Yeah.

You got to go through dunk training? It’s Let’s see, you got to workout a lot. You got to work your legs. Plyometrics. Yeah, plyometrics, jump, weight vest. You got to work out a lot, man. Work out every day I do this.

Speaker 6: (02:20)
Aaron, right-

Speaker 3: (02:20)
On the left side.

Speaker 6: (02:22)
Aaron, right after the dunk you did with Tacko Fall, he told ESPNs Ramona Shelburne, that he was a little scared for his life just because it’s not something that was rehearsed. Did you have to talk him into it at all? Calm him down, let him know that you could clear that height. Were you confident in that?

Nah, I was confident in it. Yeah. I mean, I should have let it rip a little bit more, I guess. Maybe if I put a little bit more effort into it, it would’ve got a higher score. But he was a little nervous. He was like, “I got faith in you.” I was like, “I appreciate it.”

Gilbert: (02:54)
Gilbert, Channel Five Israel, here, right here. Do you think having D. Wade as one of the judges had something to do with that final result?

Nah, I don’t even know who gave me the nines. I’m going to find them. Trust, I’m going to find them. I’m going to find them tonight because… But really, we’re here to do four dunks. You know what I mean? So, it’s out of four dunks. It should be the best out of four dunks. I did four straight fifties, five straight fifties.

Gilbert: (03:20)
Right.

That’s over. It’s a wrap. Let’s go home. Four fifties in a row in a NBA dunk contest, it’s over. But I don’t know. Who’s running the show?

Speaker 3: (03:35)
Next question. Over here on the left, standing.

Joe: (03:37)
Joe Skasharla, Score. Aaron, it looked like you bruised your wrist early in the contest, does that happen to you most contest or is that unique to tonight? Is that something that usually happens?

Oh, I mean that’s just kind of what happens when you dunk hard. You know what I mean? People forget that that’s iron, you know what I mean? And yeah, it’s dunking hard. I haven’t been dunking as much as I used to, so my body is kind of intolerant to it right now and that’s what happened. You know what I mean? It’s just when you hit your wrist on iron, you know what I mean, start bleeding, start bruising.

Speaker 3: (04:12)
Last one, standing here on the left side.

Chris Rouse: (04:14)
Aaron. Aaron over here. Back here. Back here. Chris Rouse, Windy City Hoops Podcast. Is it a goal of yours to win a dunk contest before you retire from a dunk contest?

Nah, it’s a wrap, bro. It’s a wrap. I feel like I should have two trophies. You know what I mean? So, it’s over for that. My next goal is going to be try and win the three point contest.

Speaker 3: (04:37)
Thank you, Aaron.

All right, thank you. Peace. Thanks.

Thank you.

Chris Rouse: (04:39)
Thank you.

Aaron Gordon Press Conference Transcript: Gordon Won’t Do Dunk Contest Again After Controversial Loss

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