For a time, Anthony Randolph represented possibility. On the 2008-09 and 2009-10 Golden State Warriors, the 6-foot-11 forward showed flashes of brilliance with his athleticism, ball-handling and shot blocking. His game was not polished and he struggled to earn consistent playing time, but for a certain subset of basketball fans on the Internet, this made him all the more appealing -- imagine what he could be like when he has a reliable jump shot and a coach who believes in him!
Unfortunately, Randolph never developed that jump shot, and, after stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets, he headed overseas for the 2014-15 season. In Europe, his career has had a nice second act -- after two seasons with Lokomotiv Kuban, he signed with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid this past offseason.
And that brings us to today, where the 27-year-old Randolph reminded the world why people were so excited about him. In a game against FC Barcelona, he rejected Joey Dorsey's dunk attempt in the most stunning way possible:
Look at how hard Dorsey was trying to dunk the ball. It took serious strength, plus absurd length and timing, to send that back. It's a shame he was celebrating while Dorsey got the ball back and scored, though.
This, by the way, was Randolph's second completely absurd highlight with Real Madrid. Last month, he jumped over a defender, Vince Carter-style, for a dunk on a fast break:
Now that the NBA features young big men like Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis and Kristaps Porzingis doing just about everything there is to do on the court, Randolph's curious collection of gifts might not seem so unusual anymore. In Europe, though, there are few players like him. If he keeps producing for Real Madrid, maybe he'll be able to land another contract stateside someday.
