What began as a curious oddity has quickly morphed into a growing fixation amongst the Charlotte Hornets’ fanbase. What’s the reasoning behind the high frequency of Mason Plumlee reverse dunks?
The veteran seven-footer has cashed in 65 slams this season according to Basketball-Reference.com and around 13 or 14 of them have been in reverse fashion. Funny enough, a handful of these backwards Plumlee flushes are noticeably coming in situations where the extra zest isn’t exactly necessary.
“I think initially, it was just like a reverse layup,” says Plumlee. “You know how you use the rim to protect yourself from shot-blockers? I would just dunk it. I don’t really think about it, but I guess because it worked as a reverse layup, I’ve just done it otherwise now. It’s not something I set out to do. It just happens.”
Essentially the thought process goes something like this: it’s harder for opposing centers and big men to block Plumlee’s dunk attempts if he’s not facing the rim and leaving the ball exposed. That extra split second a defender may need to recognize and then readjust his positioning gives Plumlee a slight advantage. Off the top of his head, he can only recall just one successful attempt at nullifying this particular skill.
“It’s funny – I was talking to a coach about it and the only time I remember getting blocked on the opposite side of the rim doing it was against Birdman (Chris Andersen) when he was in Miami,” he says. “For the most part, I just feel people don’t really expect it to be finished on the other side. It’d be more going from one side to the other.”
This instance took place in either Game 1 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Semifinals featuring the Miami Heat and Plumlee’s Brooklyn Nets or several months later on Nov. 17, 2014. A valiant attempt at locating video evidence of this rare swat came up empty, but according to the play-by-play, Plumlee was blocked twice in the playoff game by Andersen, then once again in their first regular season meeting the following year.
Plumlee has been one of LaMelo Ball’s favorite lob targets this season, going 48-of-75 (64%) on attempts off of passes from the second-year facilitating wizard, with 42 of those baskets registering assists. Amongst NBA players with 150+ restricted area attempts this season, Plumlee ranks 11th in field-goal percentage at 74.7%.
“I think we’re both getting better chemistry with each other,” says Plumlee, when asked about playing with Ball. “He’s made some great plays to me as of late. I think it could be a really good thing him playing downhill, us playing in the pick-and-roll, especially when teams try to guard that with one big. It could be a good thing.”
The 31-year-old center admits he doesn’t have a whole lot of answers about when or where this reverse dunking habit began (probably during his Duke days) and why it’s occasionally popping up in situations with no opposing defenders nearby. “I don’t practice at this point, dunking too much. To be honest, I don’t think about it. I think on fast breaks, I’ve just been dunking straight to get the two points, but maybe if I haven’t, I don’t know. It’s just instinct.”
For a fast-paced, high-flying Hornets team that has quickly become one of the most entertaining in the league, Mason Plumlee has brought his own unique stylistic flare to Charlotte by way of the reverse dunk.