Shaedon Sharpe has been one of the NBA’s most gifted young dunk artists since he was selected seventh overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2022 NBA draft, but he reached a new level on Wednesday.
Sharpe’s vicious one-handed slam over the unfortunately placed Justin Champagnie was immediately hailed as one of the best in the NBA this season.
He called it the best of his career and it was part of an all-around career night in Portland’s 129-121 win over the Washington Wizards.
Photo: AP
“I just started like laughing, like: ‘Wow, man. Poor kid up under him,’” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said of the slam. “That was pretty incredible.”
The 21-year-old Sharpe led Portland with a career-high 36 points, shot 13 of 26 from the floor and sank seven of 10 free throws, including four in a row down the stretch.
His signature moment originated with an alert defensive play when he swiped Champagnie’s pass beyond the three-point arc. Sharpe then took one dribble into the paint and launched so high into the air that even his teammates were in disbelief.
“I don’t know where he got it from,” Blazers forward Deni Avdija said. “I asked him on the bench: ‘If I’m going to work as hard as I can, will I be able to jump like you?’ I don’t know, it’s just genes.”
Such was the force of his slam that Sharpe crashed briefly to the court after flushing the ball through the net.
“I seen the dude in the way, so I just jumped and tried to dunk it,” Sharpe said. “And it went in.”
In 33 minutes, Sharpe also had eight rebounds — one shy of another career high — and five assists.
“His offense was incredible,” Billups said. “I mean it really was. On all three levels he was incredible the entire time. I thought the defense was high-level as well. I really did. And his rebounding, he got some really, really big rebounds for us.”
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS