It’s February 1st and the NBA still hasn’t announced the contestants for the NBA dunk contest. I’m assuming that means they are, once again, having a hard time getting guys they want and ignoring qualified guys (did you know Russell Westbrook tried to get in but the NBA asked KD & Ibaka instead?) who do want to be in it.

One of those qualified guys is Aaron Gordon. Not only does he want to be in it, last year in an issue of Slam Magazine, he called out LaVine and Wiggins. Wiggins has already said he’s not doing it, but i’m sure LaVine will be back to defend his title. I’m not betting on anybody in the NBA against LaVine in a dunk contest but Gordon has as good of a shot as anybody in the league and he’s on a roll right now.

After a frustrating rookie season and limited minutes in the first couple of months of this season, Gordon is finally getting some quality minutes.  On Sunday, he had career-highs of 19 points (8 of 11 shooting), 14 rebounds and 5 assists while playing a season-high 39 minutes against the Celtics. The performance helped snap an 8-game losing streak by the Magic and was Gordon’s 4th straight game with at least 9 points and 9 boards. 2 of those points and 1 of those boards came on this impressive highlight.

So hopefully we will be seeing a lot more of that in a couple of weeks in Toronto.  And if the NBA somehow manages to get Wiggins to join Gordon and LaVine in the contest, then this mix could serve as a nice preview for the event.