Jaxson Hayes turned a finished game into a dunk contest entry.
Late in the Lakers’ 129–118 win over the Chicago Bulls, Hayes detonated an in-game between-the-legs fastbreak dunk; the kind of “Eastbay” finish players usually save for All-Star weekend, not a live possession in January.
The dunk immediately sparked the sort of arguments only basketball people truly enjoy: not “was it cool?”, that part was obvious, but how cool, and who really owns that particular kind of showtime in today’s league.
In the postgame chatter captured on social media, Lakers forward Jake LaRavia offered a perfectly deadpan bit of skepticism, saying Hayes “didn’t get that high,” and adding, “The only player that does it in the league is Obi Toppin.”
Jaxson Hayes went through the legs for in-game fastbreak dunk tonight.
Which stirred some debate.
Jake LaRavia: “He didn’t get that high … The only player that does it in the league is Obi Toppin.”
Luka Doncic (off camera): “I did it when I was a teen … I have a video!” pic.twitter.com/nrBNEvL3dv
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 27, 2026
That’s when Luka Dončić, off camera, jumped in with the kind of flex that sounds like a joke until it isn’t:
“I did it when I was a teen … I have a video!”
He wasn’t bluffing. The clip Dončić referenced, footage of a 13-year-old Luka throwing down his own between-the-legs dunk, quickly emerged.
Luka Doncic says to Jake LaRavia he has dunked between the legs before.
Here’s the proof: A 13-year-old Luka pulling off an East Bay Funk Dunk 👀
(via @teamflightbros)
pic.twitter.com/jGQA34x53F https://t.co/yyy7IFNnwW— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 27, 2026
It’s the perfect micro-moment: one highlight, one playful critique, one superstar calling his shot, and then the internet producing evidence on demand. Hayes supplied the exclamation point, LaRavia supplied the debate fuel, and Dončić supplied the punchline—because in 2026, even your childhood athleticism can get fact-checked in real time.
