Jose Bautista had courtside view for memorable Slam Dunk Contest

(@JoeyBats19 on Instagram) If you missed Saturday night’s Slam Dunk Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto, you actually missed an entertaining show.

Anticipation for said Dunk Contest used to rival that of an NBA Finals game (or maybe a regular season baseball game in May), but those were the days when legends like Michael Jordan regularly participated and athletic beasts like Vince Carter took part.

Nowadays, the expectations have fallen far enough that some are happy enough if there are more made dunks than missed dunks that are redone over and over again.

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That changed on Saturday though. Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic produced a truly magicial performance. A duel if you will, which took many of us back to the days of Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, or Jordan and Spud Webb, or Jordan and anyone really.

The dunks were wild, the scores were perfect, and the energy in the arena was palpable even on television.

Fortunately for Toronto Blue Jays All-Star Jose Bautista, he’s an important enough person around those parts that he didn’t have to watch from home. He was in the building. But not only was he in the building, he was in the front row courtside and captured this spectacular video of LaVine’s contest-clinching slam.

That was an outstanding dunk, but somehow it was no better than LaVine’s second best of the evening or the fourth best in the contest. That’s how good Aaron Gordon was. And that’s how good the contest was, as our friends at Ball Don’t Lie will gladly tell you.

It’s appropriate that Bautista was there too. He’s a showman at times, with an undeniable flair for dramatic, and that’s exactly what every great Slam Dunk Contest needs. Perhaps if baseball wants to capture this showmanship, they will add a bat flip compenant to the Home Run Derby, or even a bat flip competition that’s separate.

We can see the judges now, holding up cardboard 10’s. Not because the ball traveled 470 feet, but because the bat was discarded in truly epic fashion. Think about it, MLB. There are worse things you could do.

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