He's barely been with the team a week, but Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. is already making his presence known. On Saturday night, he had a chance to do it on a national stage in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
Having been selected while still a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, Nance's participation gained an even greater meaning when he was traded to Cleveland, where his dad Larry Sr.'s number 22 is retired. Senior also won the first official Slam Dunk Contest in 1984, as a member of the Phoenix Suns, and on Saturday, Junior played homage to his father by wearing the same jersey he wore on that night 34 years ago.
Not only did Junior rep the old threads, he even copied one of Senior's old dunks on his very first attempt.
After switching back to his "The Land" jersey from the Cavs, Nance put on a show for the crowd in Los Angeles, advancing to the finals with a pair of windmill dunks (including one with an assist from pops).
In the final round, Nance delivered what was arguably the dunk of the night: A double-tap off the backboard topped off with a two-handed slam.
However, he was just barely outdone by Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, who himself paid tribute to two other former dunk contest stars: Darrell "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith and Vince "Air Canada" Carter.
Mitchell took the title, but it was still an incredible night for the 25-year-old from Akron. He even got a shout out from his new teammate.