Basketball
The NBA's Rising Son 'Dunks the Sun'
It's hard to think of something Anthony Davis can't do on the court. So we gave him a new challenge.
NBA All-Star Anthony Davis has had a busy summer. If you follow the offseason gossip, you know that he packed about 15 pounds of muscle onto his frame, added a 3-pointer to his arsenal and did some traveling.
But that’s not the biggest news.
Bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase, “He’s got the world in the palm of his hands,” Davis found a way to dunk the sun. Yes, that perfect spherical ball of hot plasma, that glowing round mound of exploding fire that sits 93 million miles away from Earth and keeps our planet from freezing over.
3 min
Anthony Davis Dunks The Sun - Behind The Scenes
Anthony Davis Dunks The Sun - Behind The Scenes
In the exclusive behind-the-scenes video (above) and photo gallery (below) for RedBull.com, the 22-year-old Chicago native is shown getting together with photographer extraordinaire Dustin Snipes and finding a way to bottle up the energy of the sun and rise up for Earth-shattering sun slams, sunny jumpers and even some "swatting" of the sun.
“I never heard of anyone thinking about dunking the sun,” Davis said. “With the photographer, it’s kind of like he’s the point guard and I’m the forward. Like a screen and roll, we’ve got to be together and have good communication."
We were so stunned by the photo, we decide to offer it up as a downloadable wallpaper (link here.) Think of them as early holiday presents from us to you. Stick them on your desktop, phone, social profile … go crazy and even print a poster!
We all learned in elementary school that the sun is the star at the center of the solar system — and it’s not an exaggeration to say that Davis is the star at the center of the NBA universe.
"Dunking the sun was tough and we had to be on cue every time,” AD told RedBull.com. “As soon as I thought we got the shot, the photographer would say it’s not good enough. I’m like … oh man, OK.”
I never heard of anyone thinking about dunking the sun.
As background, the choreography and timing between Davis and Snipes had to be perfect. If either were off by an inch, it would put AD’s hand too far behind the sun or too far forward, and the sun’s intense brightness would engulf his hand leaving only parts of it breaking through (not so good when you’re trying to make it look like he’s holding the brightest object in our solar system).
As we know, the sun is constantly changing positions, so a fully scripted list of moves at correlating points in time had to be buttoned up. This minute-by-minute shot list was what AD and Snipes had to stick to religiously.
It's no stretch to say AD's star burns bright
© Dustin Snipes/Red Bull
AD's eyes are set on even bigger things this year
© Dustin Snipes/Red Bull
AD led the NBA in blocks per game last season
© Dustin Snipes/Red Bull
A big man with guard skills? That's AD
© Dustin Snipes/Red Bull
Who is Anthony Davis?
Last season, AD finished among the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocks, while leading the NBA in player efficiency rating (PER). In fact, his PER of 30.8 has been exceeded by three players in the history of the game: Wilt Chamberlain, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Not bad company.
Davis also led the New Orleans Pelicans to the playoffs for the first time in four years. Ask the NBA's top minds, and they'll tell you that if they had to start a team from scratch right now, AD is the player they'd pick first.
Dare we say Anthony Davis is the Rising Son of the NBA?
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