Taj Gibson and The Dunk(s)

by Chris O’Leary / @olearychris

For the record, Taj Gibson had four field goals in the Bulls‘ Game 1 win over the Miami Heat.

One of those buckets was a highlight reel putback in garbage time. The other was a highlight of the year candidate that put the Bulls’ stamp on this Eastern Conference Final series. Gibson’s massive crush over Dwyane Wade told the Heat that we don’t care who your top-three guys are or how many championships you think you’re going to win together; we’ve got plans of our own.

The pictures below say a lot more than I ever could here. The footwear is worth noticing, though, because it really sums up the situation. There’s Taj Gibson in a non-descript pair of mostly black Nike Air Max Fly Bys, with one of the biggest names in the sneaker game victimized underneath him.

Wade will very likely get his revenge before this series is done, but what happened on Sunday night could take on a life of its own. As you walk into MSG, there’s a picture of John Starks driving baseline, cramming over MJ and Horace Grant. Six championships to the Knicks’ zero from that era is enough revenge, but the United Center might have its own version of The Dunk now.

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