Go vote for Jeremy Sochan for Dunk of the Year

Jeremy Sochan continues to be one of the most exciting takeaways from the Spurs’ tanking season. Not only did his growth as a player and in-season development spark plenty of excitement and hope for the future, but he brought plenty of highlight-real plays to a franchise that isn’t used to making many top play lists.

In a season of many, Sochan’s top play was arguably his posterization of the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis back in November. It was already listed as the fourth best dunk of the season in the NBA’s Top 100 Dunks video, and now it is a nominee for the NBA’s fan-voted award for Dunk of the Year.

While there was some debate here over whether this was actually a dunk or not — the ball left Sochan’s hand as he was fouled — we might as well put that argument to rest if the NBA (of all people) considers it a dunk and worthy of our vote. The general definition of dunk shot is “a shot in which a player near the basket jumps with the ball and thrusts it through the basket with one hand or both hands held above the rim,” and that’s what Sochan did. Nothing says his hand has to touch or go over the rim for it to count as a dunk, but if you still want to argue semantics, read this old SB Nation article and take a chill pill.

To vote for Sochan and any other fan-voted awards, click here to get started. It’s a little bit of an awkward process, but basically you need to “watch” the video you want to vote for, and while it’s active the “vote” button will be available. The other fan-voted categories include the best handle, photo, style, assist, and block, but dunk is the only one that features a Spur. Sochan is also expected to make one of the All Rookie teams when they’re announced, with most predictions putting him on the Second Team.