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Aaron Gordon uses 2K reference to flex his 2022 Christmas Day dunk on Landry Shamet

The NBA 2K25 player ratings were released earlier this month and Aaron Gordon used that as an opportunity to remind fans of his extraordinary dunking abilities. The Denver Nuggets forward pulled off an incredible overtime slam over Landry Shamet on Christmas day in 2022 and wants to ensure fans have not forgotten about it.

The Nuggets' X account shared a photo of Gordon's memorable poster dunk on Shamet on August 20. That led to Gordon reposting the image and using a 2K reference to flex his slam:

"Driving dunk 99"

The driving dunk is a trait on NBA2K and Gordon seemed to think he is worthy of a 99 rating.

On December 25, 2022, the Nuggets faced the Phoenix Suns in a tightly contested game that went down to wire. Denver trailed by six going into the half but battled back to take the game into overtime. With the clock winding down and the Nuggets holding a slender one-point lead, Gordon drove the length of the court and threw down a thunderous dunk on Shamet.

The play was initially called a charge, but that decision was reversed after a review from the officials. Denver went on to win the game 128-125 and proceeded to win the franchise's first NBA title that season.

Aaron Gordon was so proud of his eye-popping play, that he made a customized $20,000 iced-out pendant to remember to dunk. Per TMZ, it took a team 504 hours to complete every last detail of the piece of jewelry.


Aaron Gordon competed in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2016 and 2020

Orlando Magic player Aaron Gordon dunks over Chance the Rapper in the slam dunk contest during NBA All-Star Saturday Night at United Center (Credits: IMAGN)
Orlando Magic player Aaron Gordon dunks over Chance the Rapper in the slam dunk contest during NBA All-Star Saturday Night at United Center (Credits: IMAGN)

Since making his NBA debut with the Orlando Magic in 2014, Aaron Gordon has developed into one of the game's elite dunkers. The 6-foot-8 California native is regarded as one of the fiercest dunkers in the league.

Gordon competed in the Dunk Contest twice in his career and had solid outings on both occasions. In 2016, he dazzled the crowd with some astonishing jams, but fell short, losing out to Zach LaVine. In 2020, he returned to try his luck again. Despite some nifty slams, he was named the runner-up with Derrick Jones Jr. taking home the first-place prize.

Denver Nuggets fans have plenty to look forward to this upcoming season. The addition of Russell Westbrook adds some additional firepower to a team that includes Gordon, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Expect to see some high-level basketball from Denver next season, and plenty of high-flying dunks.

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