With the Suns all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, all that’s left to work towards this season are things that may, to the outside world, seem frivolous. But despite the fact that the season will end for Phoenix on April 13, Jared Dudley still has something to accomplish.
Dudley is an intelligent, high-energy player who has spent most of his minutes playing with the reserves in Phoenix, but recently has earned himself a place in the starting lineup. He’s not the most athletic player on the squad, but he did set a personal goal of throwing down 10 dunks on the season, and he had eight heading into Friday night’s game vs. the Clippers.
He almost got number nine, and in fact, the official play-by-play record of the game notes that he did. But those watching know better, including Dudley’s teammates.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, Dudley received a pass from Aaron Brooks on a fast break, and went up with two hands to throw it down. Very close to a dunk, but the general feeling among his teammates was that it didn’t quite qualify.
After the game in the locker room, Josh Childress, Hakim Warrick, and Vince Carter all weighed in with their official rulings, by holding up dunk contest-style signs with their chosen verdicts. As you can see in the following video clip (shot by Seth Pollack of SB Nation Arizona), the vote didn’t exactly turn out in Dudley’s favor.