Remember the 2008 NBA Dunk Contest, when Dwight Howard jumped so high that he threw the ball through the net rather than slamming it?
Imagine if he had changed the degree of difficulty. Instead of wearing a Superman costume, what if he had the 7-foot-1 big man Domantas Sabonis fully put his hands over his eyes to distract his view? What if it was during a road game and none of the fans in the building wanted to see it happen?
That is what San Antonio Spurs rookie Jeremy Sochan did against the Kings at the Golden 1 Center on Thursday, and … my goodness!
SOCHAN THE DESTROYER!!!! 🤯🤯🤯@spurs | #PorVida | #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/8L8guNFRf7
— Bally Sports San Antonio (@BallySportsSA) November 18, 2022
This would be one of the more exciting highlights of anyone’s NBA career, let alone someone who is only 19 years old and has played in just 19 games thus far.
You can tell this was jaw-dropping by looking at the actual reaction from Sacramento’s bench. Look at Kings rookie Keon Ellis! His face says it all:
If you liked the dunk but want to watch it set to music, that’s an oddly specific desire, but we’ve got you covered.
How would it sound if we maybe gave you a version mixed with the Jackie Wilson song “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” from 1967? Say less.
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As a treat, here is the beautiful Jeremy Sochan dunk edited to the Jackie Wilson song “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” from 1967. https://t.co/SPi2LqkNAT #PorVida pic.twitter.com/NspguLNTim
— Bryan Kalbrosky (@BryanKalbrosky) November 18, 2022
Sochan, who was selected at No. 9 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, is having an impressive start to his professional career.
Has the highest plus-minus of anyone (minimum: 100 minutes) on the team. San Antonio’s offensive rating is 6.0 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor and their defensive rating is 5.2 points per 100 worse.
San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich moved Sochan, who began the season at power forward, to play point guard against the Warriors when Tre Jones was ruled out due to illness.
Sochan will assuredly rank higher (and higher!) in the next edition of For The Win’s NBA 2022-23 rookie rankings. He isn’t getting snubbed again.
