Anthony Black ‘had no clue’ Magic dunk was so special as one of his four victims reveals aftermath

It was the dunk heard all around the world.

Anthony Black’s emphatic slam didn’t just have fans in Berlin bouncing. The whole NBA played witness to one of the greatest highlight plays of not just the season, but perhaps of all time.

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The Orlando Magic swingman is used to soaring above the rim, but against the Memphis Grizzlies on European soil, he entered an entirely different stratosphere.

With just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 107, Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. lost the ball in his own paint.

With the fast break on, 21-year-old Black drove down the court with one defender in his sight.

Little did he know that another three Grizzlies defenders were converging on him when he euro-stepped downhill before posterizing them all to give Orlando the lead.

It looked like something only NBA Jam or NBA 2K could replicate, yet it was very much real, and it spurred the Magic on to rally from a 20-point deficit to a 118-111 victory in Germany.

Black finished the contest with 21 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

With Orlando now in London ahead of round two against Memphis on Sunday at the O2 Arena, NBA insider Marc Stein caught up with Black and discussed that dunk exclusively for talkSPORT.

“I’ve probably watched it a good 10, 15, 20 times,” Black told Stein. “I got the ball. I’ve seen one man in front of me. I’ve seen everybody else kind of getting back slower, so I tried to get past my man.”

But Black, who is now in his third season in the NBA, admitted that he had no idea what he had just done until he was handed an iPad with a replay of the poster when he went back to the bench.

“Honestly, I only saw Santi [Aldama] jump. That was the only person I saw contest until I got to the bench and they showed me the replay and I was like ‘oh,'” said Black.

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“But, I just saw the lane, saw the paint was open and I felt confident in trying to take off.”

Black is currently in the midst of a breakout season after seeing his minutes almost double since his rookie year in 2023-24.

Now averaging 30.4 minutes per contest, the 21-year-old is posting 15.8 points per game shooting at a 46.7 percent clip, 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals – all career-highs.

His shooting percentage climbs to 62.9 percent when within five feet of the rim, averaging five attempts per game as he has increased his downhill aggressiveness in his attempts to get to the rack.

Black trolls Grizzlies’ forward GG Jackson

Despite the onslaught of Grizzlies players who were rallying behind him trying to stop the fast break, Black was so present in the moment that he had no idea that he was surrounded.

“I had no clue. I honestly just thought it was a foul, so I thought just dunk,” Black told Stein. “My defender was a little lower.

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“Santi didn’t really jump fully, so that’s all I’ve kind of seen. I didn’t see everybody jumping.”

Stein also caught up with Grizzlies forward GG Jackson, who revealed that Black had given him some grief about being part of the group that he posterized.

“I was in the corner, but having been in the league a bit, you always want to get back and show your hustle,” Jackson told Stein.

“But when I jumped, I saw Jaren [Jackson Jr.] fly in my left peripheral, so I was like ‘either he’s going to foul him, or he’s going to block it.’

“And then he went up, and I didn’t even see the ball go in. I just heard him start screaming at us, and that’s my guy too, Anthony Black. We played on the Team USA U18 or U16 team a few years ago.

“He told me he’s going to be putting that [image of the dunk] up in his house somewhere.

“I told him, ‘At least I’ll be remembered in the greatest dunk somehow.'”

The Magic will meet the Grizzlies again on Sunday, with Memphis superstar guard Ja Morant in line to make his return to the hardwood, as exclusively reported by talkSPORT, after six games out with a calf contusion.

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