Who had the better Leap Day dunk: Brad Stevens or Steve Ballmer?
Monday was Leap Day, which might explain why two unusual NBA characters were seen leaving their feet for dunks. In another quirk of the day, both involved a mascot.
The day began with a video of Celtics Coach Brad Stevens charging the basket and launching himself off a trampoline to put down a one-handed slam was a hot topic in the NBA.
Celtics Coach Brad Stevens' dunk
"A dunk for me is pretty unusual, so I enjoyed it. It was fun," Stevens told local media after a video posted by Lucky the Leprechaun, the Celtics mascot, forced the coach to answer questions about his motives on the court.
"I just looked down the side of the court and they had those trampolines set up and thought that would be fun," Stevens (6-foot-1, 39 years old) said. "So I asked Lucky how to do it, and I did ask that nobody tape it but, obviously, that got lost in translation."
The second Leap Day dunk took place during halftime of the Clippers' 105-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at Staples Center.
After introducing the team's new mascot, Chuck the Condor, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer (6-foot-5, 59) went for it, charging at the hoop before springing off a trampoline for a two-handed slam.
Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer's dunk
So who did it better?
Let's do this all again in 2020.
Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme
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