Remember the time when Vince Carter made basketball history and jumped over France's Frederic Weis to dunk during the 2000 Summer Olympics? Well, Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan almost made an equally-impressive feat when Team USA took on China earlier this week.
On July 24, the basketball teams from the two nations faced off at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for an exhibition match. But, aside from Team USA finishing the game with a 49-point lead, another highlight of the match was DeRozan's missed dunk.
During the final two minutes of the game, with the score at 96-49 in favor of Team USA, Draymond Green secured a rebound from a failed free throw and passed the ball to an open DeRozan. Seeing the clear path to the basket, the Raptors guard sped up and attempted a 360-degree dunk over his defender.
Although he missed the shot, the attempt and his perfect spinning form as he grabbed the ring caused the arena to erupt in cheers. Even his teammates on the bench jumped up to celebrate his move.
The move is now being called "one of the greatest missed dunks ever," according to Business Insider.
LeBron James noted that if DeRozan completed the dunk, it would have been included in the "Top 5 All Time." Kendall Marshall of the Philadelphia 76ers also praised DeRozan for showing the guts to attempt a contested 360-degree dunk.
The move is very reminiscent of what former Raptors guard Carter did in 2000 as Team USA played against Team France in Sydney, according to Huffington Post. During that manage, Carter stole the ball and soared over the 7-foot tall center Weis and dunked over him .
Although DeRozan failed in scoring the basket, he is already being compared to Carter primarily because of the audacity that he showed during the match against China. Aside from playing for Team USA, the two also came from the Toronto franchise.
For basketball fans, it's show-time moves such as this that show Team USA's flare for basketball.
As for the rest of the team, their next exhibition match will be against Venezuela.
