Fansided

15 athletes who are pop culture superfans

By Bruin Belisle

BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 14: Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves dunks during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at the 2015 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on February 14, 2015 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 14: Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves dunks during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at the 2015 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on February 14, 2015 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – FEBRUARY 14: Zach LaVine #8 of the Minnesota Timberwolves competes during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest as part of the 2015 NBA All Star Weekend during NBA All Star Weekend 2015 which is held at Barclays Center on February 14, 2015 in New York. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – FEBRUARY 14: Zach LaVine #8 of the Minnesota Timberwolves competes during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest as part of the 2015 NBA All Star Weekend during NBA All Star Weekend 2015 which is held at Barclays Center on February 14, 2015 in New York. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /

6. Zach LaVine: Space Jam

Every single one of us growing up watching Space Jam wanted to be Michael Jordan. At the beginning of the movie, little Mike is outside, late at night, perfecting his game. When his dad comes to get him, he takes one last run at the basket, the movie cutting to a montage of incredible MJ moments.

To this day, it is one of the greatest sports movie scenes of all time. It also inspired a nation of kids to want to play basketball. One of those kids was Bulls guard and ridiculously incredible dunk champion Zach LaVine.

The top three dunk contests of all time will be forever remembered as follows (sorry, old people):

  1. Vince Carter – 2000
  2. Zach LaVine vs. Aaron Gordon – 2016
  3. Zach Lavine revives the dunk contest – 2015

That 2015 contest set the stage for the showdown of 2016 and LaVine opened it like this:

LaVine told Rolling Stone that he doesn’t even remember the first time he saw the movie, as he was only 4 years old, but has seen it countless times since. He covers the impact it had on him in the pre-dunk video, saying he grew up mimicking the dunks he saw in the movie.

Today, LaVine plays for Jordan’s old team, the Chicago Bulls. He was injured for most of the 2017-18 season, but came back strong near the end of the season, posting a 17-3-4 (points-assists-rebounds) stat line and is looking to improve upon those numbers this season.

Space Jam 2 is in the works, and obviously it will feature LeBron James as its star. That being said, we’d love to see LaVine in a supporting role and I’m sure he would oblige.

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