When Aaron Gordon was traded to the Denver Nuggets earlier in March, he wanted to have a fresh start with his new team. Gordon wore No. 00 with the Orlando Magic, but rookie Markus Howard already had that number with the Nuggets. So, Gordon decided to go with No. 50 with his new team. According to Katy Winge of Altitude Sports, Gordon's new No. 50 has a personal meaning that dates back five years.
Back in 2016, Gordon was going head-to-head with Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine in the slam dunk contest and LaVine came away with a victory in sudden death. Four years later, the explosive forward tasted defeat once again when Derrick Jones Jr. beat him in the dunk contest -- despite completing a dunk in which he leaped over Boston Celtics center Tacko Fall.
For his dunk over Fall, Gordon only received a 47 out of 50 score from the panel of five judges.
"We're here to do four dunks. It should be the best out of four dunks," Gordon said after the 2020 dunk contest. "I did four straight 50s—five straight 50s. That's over. It's a wrap. Let's go home. Four 50s in a row in the NBA Dunk Contest? It's over. I don't know. Who's running the show?
"It's a wrap. I feel like I should have two trophies."
To take the pettiness to a whole different level, Gordon even participated in a documentary about the 2020 slam dunk contest called "Mr. 50."
Clearly Gordon is still very bothered by the snubs.
