The Los Angeles Lakers have a much different look so far in the preseason than recent years, thanks in large part to their suddenly dynamic group of young talents on the roster.
The most impressive of the bunch have clearly been D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, who are showing there’s plenty of intrigue to their games and personalities. Not far behind from a highlight producing perspective, though, is rookie Larry Nance Jr. who managed to put Festus Ezeli in a mighty fine poster over the past weekend:
As nice as that dunk was (it was probably the worst poster Ezeli has ever been on), though, Nance Jr. was even more impressed with what Ryan Kelly was able to do against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday:
.@RyanKelly34 gets my vote #FORTHEWIN!!! https://t.co/uKXnODCltU
— Larry Nance Jr (@Larrydn22) October 20, 2015
Was it a better dunk from an aesthetic point of view? Certainly not, as Nance Jr. got up much higher and went toe to toe against a pretty imposing defender in Ezeli. The difference between the two dunks is that Kelly’s (aside from the fact that it was simply surprising to see him be that aggressive) actually ended up being a game-winner, and a game-winning facial is going to beat any other dunk every time.
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.