Zach LaVine dedicates his Slam Dunk Contest win to Flip Saunders

Shortly after his deserved win in one of the greatest Slam Dunk Contests of all time, 20-year old Zach LaVine decided to pay tribute to late Minnesota Timberwolves coach and president Flip Saunders in an Instagram post:

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From the caption:

I dedicate this dunk contest and the trophy to my late coach, Flip Saunders and the Saunders family. He’s the one that always believed in me and drafted me! We all loved Flip and his memory will live on forever!

There’s not much to add to this. As Zach noted, Saunders drafted LaVine after his somewhat nondescript freshman year at UCLA, and told him he could be an NBA-level starting point guard. He was patient with his rookie and clearly looking forward to a second year with the returning Dunk Contest champion prior to Flip’s passing following his battle with Hodgkin Lymphoma last October.

LaVine, like quite a few of us, was lucky to have Flip Saunders in his life. For however briefly a run.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops