The last two weeks have been major stepping stones for Larry Nance Jr. to pick up where his father left off in the NBA.
Larry Nance Jr. in the Slam Dunk Contest makes father-son history
Nance Sr. won the first Dunk Contest in 1984.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
On Feb. 8, Nance Jr. was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where his father played for seven seasons and had his jersey retired. Nance Sr. even wants the jersey unretired for his son to wear next season.
On Saturday, Nance Jr. will compete in the Dunk Contest (TNT, around 10 p.m. ET). His father won the inaugural edition in 1984. A win would be the ultimate statement that the Nances are the greatest dunking family ever.
They are, at the least, the first father-son combo to ever participate in the Dunk Contest. Maybe Nance Jr. will find a way to highlight that with his dunks.
Was Nance Sr. a good NBA player? What was he like?
Nance Sr. and Nance Jr. have extremely similar builds, with the elder of the two standing an inch taller and 25 pounds lighter. Just as we know Nance Jr. now, his father was a high flyer and the ultimate alley-oop option.
For his career, Nance Sr. averaged 17.1 points per game on 54.6 percent shooting with eight rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 2.2 blocks for the Cavs and Phoenix Suns, who drafted him. He lived in the paint, rarely taking three-point attempts, and he had a strong career.
The No. 20 overall pick from Clemson totaled three NBA All-Star appearances, an All-Defensive first-team selection, and two second-team Selections. He was best known as the third core player for those Cavaliers teams that never quite got by the Bulls, flanking Mark Price and Brad Daugherty.
How did Nance Sr. win the Dunk Contest?
Nance Sr. won the first-ever modern NBA Dunk Contest over Julius Erving.
He cradled a slam, dunked two balls at a time, and threw the ball off one side of the backboard and dunked on the other. He scored 134 points out of a possible 150 in the final, outlasting a perfect 50-point dunk from Erving.
Will Nance Jr. use his father as a prop?
He hasn’t said anything about his father yet, except that he was glad to have a former champ for guidance, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
Nance Jr. did wear a shirt with an illustration of his father winning the Dunk Contest to a game earlier in the month, so maaaybe that’s a hint?
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Nance’s strategy is to wait on his opponents. “If two guys go out and miss dunks,” he told the Journal, “I just want to make it to get to the next round. Do something real safe. If everybody brings it, I have to bring it, too.”
His dad’s advice was just not to be the guy missing a ton of dunks. From the looks of what he’s done on the court this season, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Nance Jr. will go against Donovan Mitchell, Victor Oladipo, and Dennis Smith Jr. on Saturday night. The All-Star events begin at 8 p.m. ET, with the Dunk Contest following the Skills Challenge and Three-Point Shootout.
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