Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown on Saturday had a whole gimmick prepared for his maiden attempt at the 2024 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. But nobody outside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. managed to actually see the dunk live.
For his first dunk, Brown had a brief skit prepared wherein a Dominique Wilkins impersonator tried to teach him how to properly execute a windmill slam. The Atlanta Hawks legend and two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner was one of the judges of the event.
The TNT broadcast showed Brown interacting with the fake Wilkins before panning to an bird’s-eye view of the LED court. But before the broadcast could get the camera focused back on Brown, his dunk was already over.
Brown’s element of surprise was perhaps so strong that it even caught the broadcast’s production room off guard. Fans watching at home were at least able to see the dunk on replay. The judges scored it a solid 48.8.
The NBA All-Star Weekend telecast showing off the league's fancy LED court gimmick this year led to an actual dunk not even being shown on live television.
The broadcast blunder was arguably a microcosm of what has plagued the event of late. There have just been way too many dunk contest gimmicks attempting to compensate for some ho-hum jams.
Brown ended up losing in the final round to last year’s winner Mac McClung.
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