Suns assistant coach Mark Bryant can still do the dunk
May 20, 2021, 2:38 PM | Updated: 2:38 pm
Suns players must not have believed that assistant coach Mark Bryant can still dunk at the age of 56.
They bet on it, after all.
Well, he can.
Reporters busy prepping for Phoenix to play its first playoff series in more than a decade had a weird perspective of Bryant defying the odds Wednesday. They were caught off guard when, in a post-practice media session, forward Mikal Bridges suddenly left his Zoom call.
“He ’bout to dunk? Hold up!” Bridges said before sprinting away from the call — and immediately making himself a meme.
Best Suns zoom moment of the year.
Mikal Bridges runs off mid-answer after being told someone is about to dunk. We hear lots of commotion (edited together). He returns and informs us (shoutout @ginamizell) they bet 56-year-old assistant Mark Bryant he couldn't dunk. He did! pic.twitter.com/uwEMVDwU3b
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) May 19, 2021
RELATED STORIES
Returning a minute later, Bridges apologized.
“My fault. Mark Bryant, he’s out there trying to dunk. We had a bet on it so everybody was out there. … He won the bet.”
Suns forward Torrey Craig posted the first video evidence of Bryant’s feat, though it included a missed dunk before his make on the second try.
The team captured better footage of Bryant, who got massage-gunned by center Deandre Ayton to prepare himself.
Better 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑.
Coach MB still got it! pic.twitter.com/77UIYg6jJJ
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) May 20, 2021
Bryant is in his second year with the Suns and has been widely credited for helping develop the 22-year-old Ayton.
Bryant played in the NBA from 1988-2003. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound big man even spent a stint with Phoenix from 1996-98.
