New Photo of Johnny Furphy's Poster Dunk in Summer League Breaks the Internet—'Poor Young Man'
The Indiana Pacers lost their Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls on Monday; however, they undoubtedly had the best play of the contest, thanks to second-year forward Johnny Furphy.
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Furphy, who was taken No. 35 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, finished with 15 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in the Pacers' 114-105 loss to the Bulls at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Late in the second quarter of the game, Furphy delivered a poster slam that had the whole NBA world in awe and disbelief. The 20-year-old used his crafty ball-handling to create space against a couple of Bulls defenders and proceeded to soar to the rim for a vicious dunk.
Indiana Pacers forward Johnny Furphy (12) impressed in the team's Summer League game against the Chicago Bulls.Mady Mertens-Imagn Images
Bulls rookie Noa Essengue, however, made the mistake of trying to stop Furphy at the rim, leading to an epic poster moment.
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The Pacers, for their part, added insult to injury by posting a photo of Johnny Furphy's dunk over Noa Essengue. Taken from a low, front angle, the photo showed Essengue's hilarious facial expression as Furphy slammed the ball over him.
Indiana's post quickly went viral, generating nearly 2 million views in just three hours after it was posted. It also drew plenty of hilarious reactions.
"That poor young man," a commenter wrote. Another one said, "noa will never live this picture down."
A viewer added, "This is going to be hard to recover from."
"Nasty work! That young man has a family," a social media user shared.
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A poster remarked, "oh nah did bro so dirty."
"That man gotta hang it up. Aint no way they captured his facial expression like that," a sixth follower stated.
Related: Fans Saddened by Video of Tyrese Haliburton on Crutches After Pacers' NBA Finals Loss
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
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