Jordan Clarkson jams on 7-foot, 1-inch center

Jordan Clarkson finishes his mammoth dunk over Suns' center Alex Len.

OH MY! That was a pretty impressive dunk by Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson over Alex Len of the Phoenix Suns in their Sunday (Jan. 3) game in Los Angeles.

The video of the dunk by the 6'-5" Filipino/American on the 7'-1" center went viral as did the reaction of the Lakers bench.

"All I remember is (Kobe Bryant) telling me that I've been going to the hole like a light-skin dude. I got to start going like a dark-skin. So, when I saw the lane open up, that's all I remember," Clarkson described what exactly was going through his head as he drove through the open lane and delivered a violent slam dunk that got a reaction out of the 18,997 fans in attendance at Staples Center.

The L.A. Times pointed out that comments by Clarkson, whose mother is Filipina and father is African/American, unintentionally played into stereotypes implying that lighter-skinned African/Americans can be passive, but darker-skinned African/Americans are more aggressive.

The Lakers won 97-77, for their third victory in a row. They host the champion Golden State Warriors Tuesday. (Correction: In earlier versions of this post, the game with the Warriors was written "Wednesday in Oakland.)

The funniest part of the video is the Lakers bench as it went into a frenzy that included a mock resuscitation on Nick Young. 

For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders at AsAm News.

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