In all fairness, Ja Morant probably turned in the rookie dunk of the year on Wednesday night when he threw down a vicious one-hander on Aron Baynes of the Phoenix Suns. The Grizzlies would go on to win the contest by a final score of 115-108, further giving some luster to the play.
But on Friday night, the Miami Heat’s Kendrick Nunn threw down a nice dunk of his own on JaVale McGee. The visiting Los Angeles Lakers walked away from American Airlines Arena with the victory, though, handing the Heat their first home loss of the season. For that reason, it’s fair to say that LeBron James and company got the last laugh, but Nunn definitely caused an uproar on social media with the nice jam.
Coincidentally, it is Nunn who seems to be pushing Morant for the distinction of being the standout rookie thus far. This play will probably help his case a bit.
Kendrick Nunn on Javale McGee’s head 😱🤯
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) December 14, 2019
To this point of the season, the Heat are probably the biggest surprise, and the productivity of Erik Spoelstra’s young core has a lot to do with it. Along with Nunn, Duncan Robinson and Bam Adebayo have been enjoying breakout campaigns.
The rookie Nunn, however, has been quite the revelation. Entering play on Dec. 14, the young guard is averaging 16.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per contest. Although his numbers aren’t better than Morant’s, Nunn can boast something that Memphis can’t — a winning record.
At this point in the season, most teams have played in the neighborhood of 25 games. To this point, Nunn, just like his team, has been a major surprise.
On Friday night, JaVale McGee learned that the hard way.