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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 13, 2016

Aaron Gordon

Toronto, Ontario - Verizon Slam Dunk

Q. Do you feel like there was nothing else you could have done to win that contest? What do you think of the final, the 47 out of 50?
AARON GORDON: You know, that dunk that I got 47 out of 50, that's a dunk I've been doing for a while where you bring it behind your head and through your legs. It's kind of hard to see without a replay. It's kind of very quick; it happens quick. And I probably could have done something else if I knew it was going to go like into double overtime or something like that. But at that point I had exhausted all my options.

Q. Can you talk about how important the mascot was for your dunks? A lot of that stuff was complicated with him on the hoverboard and everything like that, how important was he?
AARON GORDON: Right, when he was spinning around, it took a little bit. Me and him are now like best friends, me and Stuff.

Q. I think we've all witnessed the creation of a new dunk genre. How did you come up with the beneath-the-leg concept as opposed to a between-the-leg concept?
AARON GORDON: Oh, going under both legs. Yeah, so I knew I wanted to do that because it was just different. I knew it hadn't been done in an NBA Dunk Contest. So I think all four of my initial dunks had never been done in an NBA Dunk Contest before. So I think that was my goal, and I did it.

Q. I'm curious, with the Slam Dunk Contest and All-Star Game being in Toronto, how much of Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady dunks did you watch prior to 2000? It was a big year that year, how much of that was inspiring to you going into the night?
AARON GORDON: Huge, Vince Carter?

Q. Yeah, and Tracy McGrady?
AARON GORDON: Yeah, and T-Mac. But Vince Carter, the reverse 360 windmill, that wheel he was trying to do, that was huge. Just seeing him after one of my dunks, I did that just out of respect to pay homage to Vince.

Q. But no props? Did you consider doing props like jerseys and stuff like other people have done?
AARON GORDON: No, no, I don't play for the Raptors. If I played for the Raptors then maybe, but I play for the Magic, so I brought out my man Stuff.

Q. What conversation do you have with the bench players? Any new ideas that they gave you?
AARON GORDON: Yeah, yeah.

Q. Yeah, before the final round?
AARON GORDON: Yeah, my teammates, when I started throwing it off the shot clock, they were like, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron. I was like, What. They were like, Do this one, do this one. And I was like, Okay, I'm going to do that one.

Q. Talk about last year, you battled injury and now you've got an opportunity to have that exposure for the world to see your athleticism. How great does it feel that you're able to get that opportunity and be able to realize your dream?
AARON GORDON: It's huge. That's been my dream all my life is to compete in an NBA Dunk Contest, and I'm at a loss for words, man. It's awesome, win or lose, I had so much fun. It's a dream come true, man. I'm really speechless. That's awesome. It's really cool.

Q. Will we have a rematch next year in Charlotte?
AARON GORDON: I kind of did a lot of dunks there, man. I don't know how many more I've got. I've got a year, yeah. In Charlotte, yeah, if they want me to come back, I probably will. I've got a year to get my dunks ready.

Q. When you get into the dunk off after the first two in the final round, what's going through your mind and how are you trying to come up with things? Did you think you were going to have to go to a fifth one if you had to?
AARON GORDON: No, not at all. If I knew it was going to be like that, I would have prepared better and we would have been here dunking all night, going back 50 after 50 after 50 after 50. We would have been here all night. I didn't know it was going to be like that.

I was just hoping Zach was going to miss, and it wasn't going to happen. You could see as my facial expressions when Zach dunks it, it's like okay, that's a 50. Like I know we're going to have to dunk again.

Q. I'm just wondering when you're out there, we're all watching and we can appreciate what the atmosphere's like and this is kind of an historic thing that we're watching with all the 50s. When you're competing out there, can you appreciate that you're part of an historic moment in All-Star Weekend?
AARON GORDON: Not really. I kind of don't really know what I just did until I go back and watch it. I'm going to have to watch it again. When I'm out there you feel a little bit of nerves just because all your friends at home are watching, you know the crowd is hyped.

You've got an incredible panel of judges that you looked up to, like Magic Johnson was my childhood hero and he was judging me. So I definitely appreciate the moment and the best way that I can appreciate that moment is taking it all in and being extremely present.

Q. When are you going to watch it?
AARON GORDON: Shoot, as soon as I can (laughing). I don't know. Has anybody got the film?

Q. First of all, thanks a bunch for an incredible evening. Secondly, do you think that at least on creativity you should have won?
AARON GORDON: It's hard to say. It's hard to say. Out of my first four dunks, I think potentially I could have won. It could have gone either way. Zach's an incredible dunker, he went through the legs from the free-throw line. That is insane. So off that dunk, you've got to give it to him. That's why the trophy's with him and not with me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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