Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Collin Sexton showed why you should stay until the final buzzer — and a few seconds after, too.
The best play of the Jazz's 127-115 win over the Washington Wizards may have come after the game was over.
Yes, that's some judgment for how comical Monday's game was (who doesn't love multiple shots off the side of the backboard?!), but it's also high praise for Collin Sexton's postgame antics.
As the buzzer was sounding, Sexton found himself with the ball and no one around. He figured he might as well have some fun to celebrate Utah's victory, so Sexton bounced the ball high, jumped, put it between his legs, and slammed it home with his right hand.
"It was either that or like a windmill or something," Sexton said. "I just casually walked up. I was like, 'I'm gonna try something, the game's over so I might as well.'"
He pulled off something.
"That was insane," Kris Dunn said. "The dude, he's a freak of nature, I haven't seen too many people like him. He's a different breed 100%."
Collin Sexton casually does between-the-leg dunk after the buzzer 😅 pic.twitter.com/JdlykhrhSm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 5, 2024
That's how Sexton capped off a night that was already pretty good. He finished with 29 points and seven assists as the Jazz won for just the second time since the trade deadline.
The Jazz were without Lauri Markkanen (thigh bruise) and Walker Kessler (ankle sprain), and then lost Keyonte George (illness) and Taylor Hendricks (toe sprain) in the first half. That meant Utah was without nearly half of its regular rotation — a rotation that was already pretty shallow.
Jordan Clarkson scored 12 straight points for the Jazz in the final minutes as part of a 20-3 run to give the Jazz the win, and finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on the night.
Clarkson got the Jazz the win; Sexton made the show-stopping play — well, at least, it made fans pause before leaving.
"Pretty impressive," Clarkson said. "He got it all. He got a lot of bounce and a lot of energy, crazy he did it after (playing 33 minutes). That's crazy; that's Collin for ya."
Jazz coach Will Hardy said he didn't see the dunk live and hadn't yet seen the replay of it, but said "the way it was described to me it sounds like something Collin would do."
Remember, this was the same player who bounced the ball into a 360-degree dunk during live action in a win over the Spurs earlier this season. At least he waited for the buzzer to sound this time.
He did have a memorable in-action dunk on Monday, too. Sexton threw a lob to George, who passed it back off the backboard to Sexton for a dunk.
"I told him: 'Throw it back, alley-oop, alley-oop.'" Sexton said. "I hope he got an assist off that because he definitely threw a perfect pass right back and I was able to finish it. It was on purpose for sure."
Collin Sexton lobs Keyonte George then banks it back to Sexton for the jam 🤯
— Ball Don't Lie (@Balldontlie) March 5, 2024
(via @NBA)
pic.twitter.com/QizRApLbF2
So with all the dunking on Monday, would Sexton be interested in participating in the dunk contest?
"I thought about it during COVID, but during the whole time it was tough," Sexton said. "It was in Atlanta (where Sexton is from), so I wanted to do it really bad. … Maybe one day I'll get in there and make it fun."
As for the one he pulled off after Monday's win, he initially called that one a 40; however, after being reminded of some of the loose judging in the contest, he upped it to a 45.
But he thinks he's got something in his arsenal that would get perfect scores.
"I got a few dunks up my sleeves that I know will give me 50s," he said.
Maybe those will come in a dunk contest. Or maybe they'll come immediately after the next Jazz win.
