Defender’s Reaction During Johnny Furphy Dunk Will Go Down in History

Jayhawk fans may not have known that the Australian had that kind of bounce in him. He hit his defender with a behind-the-back to get to the rim and cocked his right arm all the way back for a tomahawk jam.

As impressive as the slam was, it wasn’t the best part of the play.

The face that Bulls rookie Noa Essengue made before he fell victim to Furphy’s dunk made the moment all the more iconic. 

There are truly no words to describe just how humiliating that snapshot is for Essengue. He isn’t even a month into his NBA career and has already become the face of getting dunked on. 

Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton reacted to the dunk on X, as did several other prominent basketball figures.

Furphy finished with a modest stat line, scoring 15 points and grabbing six rebounds in 31 minutes. However, his emphatic throwdown was the real star of the show.

The Melbourne native had another rim-rattling flush in his previous summer league appearance against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it doesn’t compare to what he did yesterday.

No matter how well Essengue performs in his rookie year, the image of his reaction to Furphy posterizing him will stick with NBA fans for quite some time.