When Gordon got up, he took a deep breath; clearly, there was no escaping the pressure of such a competition.
But after taking that deep breath, determination was the only thing left in his eyes.
Then, his first dunk simply exploded.
He started with a baseline run-up, then, with his back to the basket, he caught the ball with both hands behind his head, pulled it down to his groin, and then whipped it back over to complete a reverse super-fold dunk.
The difficulty of this dunk was already high, especially when paired with his muscular build, it created an explosive visual impact.
And since this was the opening dunk, it left the entire panel of judges completely stunned.
The crowd, after a brief pause, erupted into explosive cheers for him.
This opening dunk not only lived up to his pre-competition declarations but was also a fitting start to this year's slam dunk contest.
Ultimately, the judges awarded him a score of 48.
A chorus of boos rose from the crowd.
