Jaxson Hayes sends Reggie Jackson to retirement with brutal poster dunk (Video)

Jaxson Hayes ended Reggie Jackson with this brutal poster dunk.

It’s hard to see anything topping Anthony Edwards’ detonation over poor Yuta Watanabe in this year’s Dunk of the Year category, but bless Jaxon Hayes for trying his damndest.

In the New Orleans Pelicans‘ Sunday evening rout over the LA Clippers, the young big man found himself in a predicament after catching a bounce pass from Brandon Ingram in the pick-and-roll. He had already taken his two steps, preparing for liftoff, before he noticed Reggie Jackson trying to slide underneath him for the charge.

Did he dare kick the ball out to a teammate and turn down his shot at glory? Or would he risk it all for his chance at immortality? Fortunately for us all, and probably some NBA Top Shot owner here soon, he chose violence.

Talk about some Jaxson-on-Jackson crime!

Jaxson Hayes was ruthless on Reggie Jackson and that poor rim

It’s hard to tell what the best part about this play is. The fact that he only needed two steps without dribbling to launch into one of the best dunk highlights of the year? How he absorbed the contact from his ground-bound defender and still stretched out to punish the rim anyway? How he stared down at the motionless corpse that once housed Reggie Jackson’s spirit after the dunk and then patted on the top of his hair to suggest he needed to watch his head? Or is it the reactions of Ingram and his teammates on the perimeter?

The answer is “all of the above,” to be quite honest. The NBA needs to do something about the charge, but this is the rare kind of play that does all the rewarding itself.

Fortunately, no one was actually hurt in the making of this eye-opening play. The Pelicans cruised to a 135-115 victory over the Clippers, and going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, Hayes finished his night with 17 points, 3 rebounds and one legitimate candidate for Second-Best Dunk of the Year.