OKC Thunder: Dillon Jones on Viral Play ‘I Guess He Thought He Played Good Defense’

Dillon Jones breaks down a viral play from his second Summer League game.

Dillon Jones speaks during an introductory press conference for the 2024 Thunder draft picks at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June, 29, 2024. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

Highlight plays are the basis of basketball. Youtube reels, SportsCenter supercuts and social media snippets are the core nucleus for luring people into the game. The storylines, the drama, the high-flying dunks, the crazy passes and the long distant triples that in the early 2000s would've cost you roaming minutes.

On Tuesday in the Salt Lake City Classic, Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Dillon Jones had his first viral moment. Every basketball account on the internet clipped out his jaw-dropping triple from five steps behind the line as Utah Jazz guard Brice Sensabaugh was clapping in his face.

3️⃣ for 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/KROlEDMK6g

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) July 10, 2024

In a play that got even the home Jazz crowd off their feet with admiration, Jones had a simple explanation for what happened.

“I don’t want to say I don’t know why he was clapping, but I guess he thought that he was playing good defense or something. And he did, I just really hit a tough shot. … I’m not even a trash talker, honestly. It was just the moment, I guess," the Weber State product said postgame.

While Jones contests he is not a trash talker, his new teammate and fellow rookie Ajay Mitchell has a pretty easy descriptor of unorthodox forward.

“Dillon’s petty, so if you get him going, he’s gonna try to get a bucket. That’s what he did. That’s how he is. He’s a bucket," Mitchell said postgame.

There is no surprise that Sensabaugh's antics did not sit well with Jones who let the 2023 first round pick hear about the deadeye shot, that "it-factor," or pettiness as Mitchell calls it, is exactly what the doctor ordered for this Oklahoma City Thunder team.

A squad that rallies around that "dog" moniker, Jones has a bite to his bark.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.