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Dwyane Wade Finally Explains Why He Only Gave A Nine For Aaron Gordon’s Final Dunk

While this year’s Dunk Contest gave us one of the best duels of all-time with Derrick Jones Jr. and Aaron Gordon going into overtime, the night ended in controversy when the Orlando forward received a disappointing score of 47, which led to him losing against Jones Jr..

In an AMA session with Bleacher Report, Dwyane Wade, who was one of the three judges giving out a 9 for Gordon’s final dunk, was asked about the reason behind his controversial score that ended the night for Gordon.

Q: Why did you give Aaron Gordon a 9?

Wade: “Hahaha because I felt that dunk deserved a 9. For the record, a 9 is actually not a bad thing. … I thought that dunk deserved a 9 because he didn’t clear him. … People are still talking about the Dunk Contest. … People are still talking about it months later. As judges we did our job. We made it interesting and something that people keep wanting to talk about”

The three-time champion received a lot of slander after only giving a nine for Gordon’s final dunk, leaving Gordon and his supporters in disappointment. Wade however wasn’t the only one who gave a nine that night. He was also joined by Chadwick Boseman and Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen.

But the backlash was only directed towards Wade, mainly because he was teammates with Jones Jr.. Fans said that Wade was biased and shouldn’t have been a judge in the first place.

Months later, many NBA fans and players still believe that Aaron Gordon was robbed and should’ve been the winner of the contest. Nonetheless, even without an award to show for it, Gordon will be forever talked about as one of the best and creative dunkers in Dunk Contest history.