BBNBA: Sharpe's Dunk of the Year and more history for SGA

Welcome back to your mid-week BBNBA update. We’re officially in the dog days of the NBA season as the All-Star break is behind us and playoff positioning becomes the name of the game. But with roughly 25 games left in the regular season, there is always something to talk about in this league.

Let’s dive into the top storylines related to former Kentucky players since the start of the week.

Shaedon Sharpe threw down the Dunk of the Year

I know, I know… We don’t care about Shaedon Sharpe! Well guess what, I care! And I won’t let anyone try to downplay what was, in this writer’s opinion, easily the best dunk of the 2024-25 NBA season thus far. Wednesday night in a 129-121 win for Sharpe’s Trail Blazers over the Wizards, the “former” Kentucky Wildcat unleashed hell upon Justin Champagnie with one of the nastiest throwdown you’ll ever see.

SHAEDON SHARPE MY GOODNESS 🤯😱 pic.twitter.com/xNk9YbTBfX

— NBA (@NBA) February 27, 2025

Regardless of what your thoughts on Sharpe are — that’s one of the best in-game dunks in NBA history. He was practically turned sideways when he finally shoved the ball down the net with his right hand. He had the entire basketball above the white square on the backboard. Those two points were part of a career-high 36-point performance from Sharpe, who added eight rebounds and five assists in his 33 minutes.

Pure insanity…

Tyler Herro drops 40 on Bucks

Tyler Herro‘s incredible season didn’t stop with the All-Star break. The first-time All-Star (and 3-Point Contest winner) exploded for his second 40-point game over his last three contests Sunday night, although it came in a 120-113 Heat loss to the Bucks. Herro also tied his season-high with 11 assists in addition to his seven rebounds.

It hasn’t been a great season for the Heat (27-30; 8th Eastern Conference), but Herro is developing into a bona fide star in South Beach.

PJ Washington (re)finding his footing

After being traded from the Hornets to the Mavericks in the middle of last season, PJ Washington got himself in a much better groove in his first full season in Dallas. He’s averaging career-highs in points (14.2), rebounds (8.2), assists (2.4), and steals (1.2) per game this season while shooting over 38 percent from deep. But that changed earlier this month when Luka Doncic was shipped to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, who immediately got hurt in his first game with the Mavs.

Since then, Washington is having to rediscover his rhythm. He’s currently dealing with a minor ankle injury, as well. After the All-Star break, we’ve seen Washington go for 24 points, then 17 points, and then to zero points across his last three respective games. That goose egg against the Lakers on Tuesday (Doncic’s first game against his old team) came on 0-9 shooting in 34 minutes, although Washington did tack on 10 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks.

Without Doncic or Davis currently in the Dallas lineup, it’s putting even more stress on Washington.

SGA makes more history, but OKC collapses vs. Minny

Only four players in NBA history have scored at least 30 points in 35 or more games across three straight seasons (a bit of a cherry-picked stat, but bear with me). Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and James Harden — three of basketball’s all-time greatest scorers — have pulled it off. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joined the group Monday when he poured in 39 points (plus 10 rebounds and eight assists) for the Thunder.

Unfortunately, it came in a devastating 131-128 overtime loss to the Timberwolves, which rallied from a 25-point deficit to steal the win. The Wolves outscored OKC 41-19 in the fourth quarter before completing the comeback in the extra period. According to OptaStats, “Minnesota was the first team in NBA history to win a road game when trailing by at least 20 points entering the fourth quarter against a team with an .800 or better winning percentage.” Wild stuff.

Much was made by the media about OKC following the loss, saying the Thunder won’t make the NBA Finals because of this type of performance. But the unspoken part is that last season’s champions, the Celtics, faced similar adversity this time last year, blowing plenty of large leads along the way. The Thunder had also won its previous nine of its 10 games prior to playing the Timberwolves. OKC had even beaten Minnesota the night before in the first game of a back-to-back.

The Thunder still have the projected MVP in Gilgeous-Alexander. Everything is on the table so long as he remains healthy.

The Ringer’s Top 100 NBA players

Was released Thursday afternoon and it includes 11 one-time Wildcats, four of them cracking the Top 15.

• No. 2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
• No. 12 Anthony Davis (Mavericks)
• No. 14 Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks)
• No. 15 Devin Booker (Suns)
• No. 21 De’Aaron Fox (Spurs)
• No. 31 Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
• No. 33 Tyrese Maxey (76ers)
• No. 34 Bam Adebayo (Heat)
• No. 44 Tyler Herro (Heat)
• No. 78 Julius Randle (Timberwolves)
• No. 99 PJ Washington (Mavericks)