Jumping over someone who is 7'5" from a jogging start to successfully dunk a ball in front of thousands of watching screaming spectators sounds like the culmination of years of hard work and practice, for the average person. Aaron Gordon is not average and that scenario was not the culmination but the beginning. A birth, or re-birth of what appears before us as an absolute beast.

The 2020 Dunk contest now, almost 2 weeks behind us, seems like the breeding ground of the new AG. An AG that is driven, ambitious, and eager to prove to the world that he is not only a dunker but someone whose all-around game should be lauded.

The dunk contest ended with what most people, unless your Derrick Jones Jr., would classify as a robbery of massive proportions of one Aaron Gordon, who time after time showed insane athleticism but also some of the more creative arsenal of dunks ever witnessed in an NBA Dunk Contest. The slight by D Wade (giving Gordon a 9, when judges agreed to end contest in a tie) to end the contest was an ignition, something that woke Aaron Gordon up. For most of the 2019-2020 season Gordon has not been a bright spot on this Orlando Magic team, he almost seemed to disappear in the offense for most possessions. Two weeks removed from All-star weekend, that seems to no longer be a valid criticism of AG.

Gordon has taken an unprecedented leap over the past three games. Based on the eye test Aaron seems much more involved in the offense, more vocal, actively passing out of bad situations (something he previously struggled with), Aaron has also seemed to find comfort in his role now that James Ennis is starting at the 3 guard spot, allowing for Gordon to play at his tradition Power Forward role. Gordon is also exhibiting more confidence in his shot-making and decision making aspects of his game.

Prior to the all-star break, Aaron was averaging: 14.2 Pts, 3.1 Asts, 7.3 Rebs, while shooting 42.4% from FG and 30.8% from beyond the arc. While that is compared to a small number of games post-all-star break the changes are apparent. Since returning from all-star break Gordon has seen improvements in virtually every statistical category: 20.7 Pts, 5.7 Asts, 10.7 Rebs, the most eye-opening changes come when looking at his shooting percentages. Gordon is currently scorching hot shooting 55.8% from the field and super-human 54.5% from the 3-pt line.

At Power Forward it seems like his athleticism and speed sets him apart from his competition on most nights, allowing him to help on defense and have an offensive advantage over his opponents. When he played the SF position it seemed as though there was too much emphasis on him playing beyond the 3-pt line and did not allow for him to take advantage of his size. Now that the Magic have a full-time Small Forward AG has found a home playing bully-ball in the paint with the transitional aspect of his game being the 3-pointer.

At this point, it is difficult to tell if Aaron Gordon is playing out of his mind because of the slight experienced during All-Star weekend or if Godon has actually turned the corner in his development and is becoming the star that many thought he could be. Aaron Gordon has all of the tangible attributes to become a superstar the intangibles are what came into question for many when analyzing his ability and prospect. If this post-all-star stretch is any indication of what Gordon can do on a basketball court moving forward, things should surely lookup for the Orlando Magic very quickly.