‘Freak athlete’: Thunder teammates, Twitter react to Bazley dunk vs. Hawks

After Darius Bazley’s ridiculous dunk against the Atlanta Hawks, OKC Thunder teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander called him a “freak athlete.”

As the Oklahoma City Thunder began to tie the bow on the 118-109 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, they had two objectives: Either get an easy basket or run time off the clock.

Forward Darius Bazley found a way to do both. With about 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock, he created a lane to the hoop and drove. He was met by John Collins at the rim.

Bazley maneuvered not just the ball around Collins, but his entire head. He double-clutched and threw in the ferocious slam dunk.

“I call him a freak of nature, but he’s a freak athlete,” said guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “He can do so many things in the air, get so high with the gifts he’s given.”

It extended the Thunder’s lead to 11, essentially capping the game.

Bazley smiled and laughed when asked about it and his teammates’ reaction. He couldn’t really describe the dunk itself, but enjoyed the aftermath.

“They just was like pumped up. It was fourth quarter — I don’t remember the score, but I’m assuming it was big. Their coach called a timeout, I’m sure we was on a run,” Bazley said.

It was big. But that doesn’t mean the Thunder haven’t seen it before.

“He just made a regular basketball play for Baze, which is crazy,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

As teammates celebrated with Bazley, Twitter also reacted. Here is what Bazley said about the dunk:

And here’s another view of the throw-down.

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