Ja Morant's poster dunk on Victor Wembanyama isn't actually a poster dunk

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news this morning, but a lot of people are hyping up Ja Morant's "dunk" on Victor Wembanyama from Wednesday night.

And, look, the reason why is obvious. It's Wemby! The dude is 10-foot-2 (not really but whatever). He's super tall. Morant is tall to regular people, but kind of short by NBA standards at 6-foot-1.

Being able to pull this off is insane.

This will undoubtedly become a poster on some kid's wall somewhere. So, by the letter of the law, I guess this would be considered a poster dunk. But I don't think it should count!

PUT IT IN THE LOUVRE: Take away the context and Charles Curtis says this is art.

The "dunk,"if we're calling it that, happened well after the whistle. The officials blow the whistle here. Look how far away from the rim he is!

Everyone stops but Ja. He made up his mind that he was dunking on Big Vic right there, no matter what happens next. Meanwhile, Wemby isn't even fully in position. He slows on his rotation because of the whistle and then gives a half-hearted contest once Morant is in the air and jumping into his chest.

It's still an impressive athletic feat — don't get me wrong! Nearly jumping over a 7-foot-4 dude (his actual height) is something that .0001 percent of the population can do. You want to hype that up? Fine.

But this is the equivalent of punching someone in the boxing ring a full three seconds after the bell rings. The other boxer isn't even thinking about defending himself — the round is over! The whistle blew. Wemby didn't get a fair shot here.

This isn't to say that Morant wouldn't have dunked on Wemby either way. I think this makes it evident that he could've. Zach Edey also got the Spurs big man earlier in the night. Despite Wembanyama's eight blocks in the game, he's not infallible.

All I'm saying is that I'd rather wait until the real thing happens to hype this moment up.

Call me a hater. Call me the villain. Call me whatever you want. But this doesn't count in my book.

Justice for the Mavericks

Goaltending calls are always some of the hardest to make in basketball. They happen in a split second and are literally determined by inches.

With that said, this goaltend that went uncalled in the Mavs-Pelicans game on Wednesday night is just so egregiously bad. How do you miss this one?

This would've given Dallas a one-point lead with two seconds left in the game. There's a strong chance that bucket would've won it. And it's a win Dallas desperately needed, too — the Mavs are just two games away from being the No. 12 seed in the West.

No-calls happen. The league still moves forward. Dallas will get over it. But, MAN, this one was bad.

Shoutout to the Pelicans for grabbing another win, though. May the stealth tank live on.

CAPTURE THE FLAGG: The Pels should trade Zion and do their best to get Cooper Flagg

Unrivaled will change the WNBA

Unrivaled might throw a little wrench in the plans of some WNBA teams moving forward.

You know how NBA stars have traditionally used their time at the Olympics to recruit other NBA stars to their teams? Sue Bird thinks the new Unrivaled League will present the same opportunity for some of the WNBA's best talent. She talked about it on her A Touch More podcast. Meg Hall has more on that here.

“Oh my God. There’s going to be so many superteams formed in Unrivaled. The WNBA free agency chatter that must be happening—in the training room, when they’re out shopping, when they’re getting some coffee—has gotta be next level," Bird said.

I see where she's going with this! Unrivaled does allow stars to recruit and play with (and against!) their peers in high-level competition. There will certainly be some bonds formed over these next few weeks.

The superteam theory is interesting. I'd argue the WNBA already has a few superteams when you look at the Liberty or the Aces or the Connecticut Sun. I guess there's always room for more, though!

Can't wait to watch this unfold.

Quick hits: The Caleb Williams jinx ... Our latest NBA mock draft ... and more

— Caleb Williams just jinxed the Bears' coaching search. Robert Zeglinski has more here.

— Bryan Kalbrosky just dropped his latest NBA mock draft. My Wizards are sitting pretty, y'all.

— Ohio State mysteriously dismissed Caden Davis before the national title game. Charles Curtis has more on this.

— RIP to TikTok (maybe). We'll miss you (if it really does get banned). This fake funeral program is hilarious. Meg Hall has more.

— The Nintendo Switch 2! Charles Curtis has everything we know about the announcement so far.

— Here are our straight-up picks for the NFL Playoff action this weekend. Enjoy.

That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic Thursday. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Ja Morant's poster dunk on Victor Wembanyama isn't actually a poster dunk