Dennis Smith Jr.  protested his low dunk contest score on Twitter. Does he have a point?

Dennis Smith Jr. earned a lowly 39 out of 50 on his first dunk attempt of the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Almost immediately after watching Donovan Mitchell beat Larry Nance Jr., Smith protested the judges’ decision on social media, first with a tweet, then with an Instagram comment (shoutouts to Nick Pants for the find):

also Instagram — see nick pants

Smith Jr. pulled off a reverse double-pump stuff, first bringing the ball up well above his head, then cocking it all the way back down while twisting his back to the basket before throwing it down, backward:

It was a cool dunk, but it wasn’t a reverse 360. After Mitchell threw the ball off the backboard of one basket, caught it in midair then windmilled it into another rim, and after Nance Jr. paid homage to his pops by rocking a throwback Cavaliers jersey before pulling off Larry Nance Sr.’s trademarked Rock the Cradle dunk, Smith’s dunk didn’t compare.

Even though his sick reverse between-the-legs dunk earned a perfect 50, Smith only placed third with a final score of 89 behind Mitchell’s 98 and Nance Jr.’s 93.

Well, yes and no. He deserved better than a 39 in the sense that Victor Oladipo was given 31 points for not completing a first dunk at all. And he deserved better than a 39 since Aaron Gordon was given a 47 for pulling off the exact same dunk in the competition two years ago. Smith Jr. was sitting next to Gordon for much of the contest, so it’s probably a safe guess where that idea came from.

But this is the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and it’s go big or go home. With a double pump as his first dunk of the night, Smith Jr. went small before going for it all. Yes, that particular double pump is a tough one to do, but it’s not the dunk best used to open the night. It’s a dunk that has nuance; the opening act should be an attention-grabber.

For that reason, it wasn’t “highway robbery” for Smith Jr. to get only a 39 on his first dunk. And this should serve as motivation for hopefully his return to the Dunk Contest next season.