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By John Denton
March 3, 2016
ORLANDO – If Aaron Gordon’s basketball life was following some sort of Hollywood script, the convenient narrative would be that he thrived on the big stage at the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and that vaulted him toward success the rest of this season for the Orlando Magic.
But in actuality, Gordon’s rise and his deep belief in his abilities started well before his high-flying, jaw-dropping exploits in the Feb. 13 dunk contest. And that’s no reference to what Gordon did on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 when he set new career highs in rebounding on consecutive nights.
Deep down, well below the surface of his poised and humble exterior, Gordon knew of his talents. Quite frankly, he has known for years that he was on a path toward stardom in the NBA. He had all of this game, all of these off-the-charts hops and all of this maturity for someone well beyond his age, and Gordon knew it was just a matter of time before he got to unleash it on the rest of the NBA.
Those were some of the things that the Magic were banking on in 2014 when they selected Gordon with the No. 4 in the NBA Draft. A foot injury last season and a summer setback with his jaw delayed Gordon’s rise, but now that opportunity has collided with his blossoming talent, Gordon has started to show signs of his massive potential.
``I’ve known for a long time that I could do this,’’ said a confident Gordon, whose Magic (27-33) host the rebuilding Phoenix Suns (15-45) Friday at 7 p.m. ``And I feel like I have plenty more left, too.’’
That has to be a scary proposition for opposing forwards throughout the NBA who have to deal with the 6-foot-9, 220-pound Gordon, who is blessed with the rare combination of length and strength, speed and power, energy and enthusiasm, high-flying hops and dive-on-the-floor grit. A starter now for the past 19 games, Gordon has used his do-everything skills to become one of the Magic’s most consistently productive and dependable players.
Sure, the exhilarating performance in the dunk contest – one that ended up with Gordon finishing as the runner-up in controversial fashion – gave him a boost of confidence, but the forward’s game has been blossoming before the eyes of the Magic for months now.
``The dunk contest was a jump-start, kind of a catapult for him, but really Aaron’s been getting better for a long time,’’ said Magic guard Victor Oladipo, who knows a thing or two about the dunk contest after his runner-up finish in the event in 2014. ``Like I told everybody a long time ago, his athleticism is scary. But the fact that he continues to get better in every other aspect of his game, that just shows how good he can be. I’m looking forward to seeing that from him through the years.’’
So, too, is the 20-year-old Gordon, who has had to be patient this season because not much of Orlando’s offense is designed around him. Still, he’s managed to lead the team in scoring twice, score in double-digits 28 times and pump in a career-best 22 points against Philadelphia last week. And in Orlando’s defeat of Chicago on Wednesday night, Gordon had 13 points, 15 rebounds, two 3-pointers, eight free-throw makes and some of the Magic’s best on-ball defense of the night.
Over the past six weeks, Gordon is averaging 11.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.05 steals a game as a starter – numbers that have boosted his season totals to 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists a game.
What has been the most impressive to Magic coach Scott Skiles is the way that Gordon has been able to learn from the mistakes he made early in the season and adjust his game so that he can be counted on nightly. Early in the season, Gordon was so eager to make something happen that he would often drive into traffic and turn the ball over or try and force a shot that he wasn’t particularly equipped to take. Skiles has convinced Gordon that at this point in his development he simply needs to stay within his game – running the floor, putting back misses off the offensive glass, shooting open shots where his feet are set underneath him and playing lock-down defense – so that the Magic can depend on him as a two-way player.
``You’re blind if you don’t see Aaron’s talent and some of the things that he can do. But before he was a mistake player and now he’s not a mistake player any more,’’ said Skiles, who has raved about Gordon’s defensive abilities against the likes of all-stars such as Dirk Nowitzki, Draymond Green and Paul Millsap. ``He’s much more solid, his decisions are better and he’s not as rushed. He still has a tendency on the break when he’s pushing it to go right through somebody instead of side-stepping them. But there’s no reason to think that that won’t come for him, too.
``It’s one of the biggest adjustments for young players – the pace and the speed of all of this in the NBA,’’ Skiles continued. ``If you get to going too fast and you don’t yet have the skill to deal with it, you get yourself in trouble. But he’s done both, working on his skill and he’s been able to slow himself down.’’
Gordon purposefully tried to slow himself down following the whirlwind dunk contest when he simultaneously announced himself to the basketball world and took its collective breath away. Even though defending champion Zach LaVine was the heavy favorite to repeat, Gordon boldly said before the event that in no way did he think of himself as an underdog.
Then, he went out and backed up that talk with dunks that were as stunning with their creativity and they were with the raw athleticism displayed.
Taking the ball from spinning Magic mascot, Stuff, Gordon cupped it with one hand, posed in midair with his other hand behind his head and then dunked with authority.
And on the next dunk, Gordon literally and figuratively soared to new heights while defying all laws of gravity. Not only did Gordon hurdle Stuff on a hover board – a height of roughly 8 feet – Gordon seemed to sit in midair before flushing the ball back over his head. Images of Gordon seeming to sit on the air became a trending internet meme, depicting him sailing over objects such as the moon, The Eiffel Tower and the Egyptian pyramids.
When both Gordon and LaVine were tied after four dunks, a two-dunk ``overtime’’ was needed – something that Gordon hadn’t prepared himself for. He still acquitted himself nicely with two more stunning dunks, but LaVine was eventually crowned champion. Still, it was Gordon who had the social media world abuzz with his seemingly out-of-nowhere rise to greatness.
Teammates in Orlando and Magic fans knew better. Said Magic point guard Elfrid Payton: ``I told everyone what he was going to do. I don’t lie.’’
Just after the event, Gordon had celebrities from the music industry and acting world reaching out to him to offer congratulations. Various companies reached out to his agent, Calvin Andrews, about possibly teaming up with ``Air Gordon’’ to pitch their products. And Gordon’s number of Instagram followers have shot up by 167,000 people over the past 18 days.
``(Life has changed) a little bit, but the dunk contest is something I can always reminisce on and have in the back pocket and pull out if I need and talk with my friends about,’’ Gordon said with a chuckle. ``But other that, I’ve tried to just be really consistent at my practice (of basketball).’’
Not that he hasn’t relived one of his best basketball moments of his life several times over the past couple of weeks. ``I get a rush of energy, a super rush of energy,’’ Gordon said of watching the dunk contest back again with family and friends. ``You start feeling all of those feelings that you felt while you were out there – anxiety, nervousness, excitement and happiness. I watch it back sitting on the couch and I jump up like, `Whoa! Where did that come from?’ It’s still pretty cool.’’
Gordon said what the dunk contest signified to him was that he has the ability to rise to the moment when the pressure is on. That, more than anything, will help him going forward in games for the Magic, Gordon stressed.
``That was huge for me, being able to be in the moment and being able to do what I did,’’ he said, still somewhat in awe. ``I really did something special and it let me know I can get there if I need to.’’
Considering the way that Gordon’s game has grown since the 2014 draft and how it has especially sprouted of late, Magic fans have to be wondering what’s the next level for him. For now, much of his production – the eight double-doubles, the 10 games with 10-plus rebounds and the taking off from just inside the free throw line to dunk recently against Green and the Golden State Warriors – has come off predominantly his athletic ability. But the Magic are confident that, in time, Gordon’s skill level will continue to grow because of his high basketball IQ and his gym rat mentality when it comes to his work ethic.
All of those things should help Gordon make another dunk contest-like leap for the Magic.
``We think he’s a skilled guy and a lot of what’s happening for him right now is more on the potential side than what’s really happening. But he’s just got to keep developing,’’ Skiles said. ``And, look, with the way he’s playing right now, you know he’s going to get better. But if he never got any better he’d still be a very valuable player.’’