One Of The Nastiest Dunks In Summer League History Came From Lakers Forward LJ Figueroa

Summer League is, above everything else, an opportunity for guys to make a case for why they deserve a spot on an NBA roster. While it’s turned into a gigantic event that attracts fans and gets used by the league to promote other stuff it has going on, at the end of the day, basketball players are out there fighting for a place in the league.

Time will tell if L.J. Figueroa, who went undrafted out of Oregon in 2021 and spent time in the G League in each of the last two seasons, will get a chance to suit up for an NBA team next year — he was with the Santa Cruz Warriors in 2021-22 and the South Bay Lakers in 2022-23. The Lakers decided to bring him with their Summer League squad this year, and on Friday night, Figueroa had an impressive run off the bench in what ended up being a 100-69 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. This included one of the nastiest putback dunks you’ll ever see, as he cleaned up a miss by going up and over G.G. Jackson.

I do not think I have ever heard a more emphatic “oh my God” ever screamed by an announcer than in that above video. Here’s another angle, which shows him just levitating.

On the night, Figueroa went 7-for-10 from the field for 15 points with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal in a little more than 13 minutes of work.