Son of Michigan State basketball legend wins 2026 Sprite Jam Fest Dunk Contest

Michigan State basketball fans, are you ready to be slightly salty?

The son of Michigan State basketball legend Jason Richardson and younger brother of Spartan Big Ten champion and former first-round pick Jase Richardson just won the 2026 Sprite Jam Fest Dunk Contest on Monday. The top-30 recruit in the 2026 class chose Alabama during the recruiting process which surprised some people who assumed he’d follow his dad and brother.

Jaxon, however, wanted to forge his own path, and you can’t knock him for that.

The younger Richardson did follow his dad and brother in one aspect, though: he was the topic of conversation in a dunk contest.

Unfortunately, Jase didn’t do very well in this year’s NBA Dunk Contest and he went viral for a really hard fall that he suffered on a dunk attempt. Jason won multiple NBA Dunk Contests when he was with the Golden State Warriors and that’s when he truly became a star.

Jaxon looks like he may have more of his dad’s highlight-reel dunk ability than Jase does.

The McDonald’s All-American son of J-Rich won the high school dunk contest by jumping over five people, including two 7-footers, to throw down the contest-winning dunk.

Though he won’t be donning the green and white next season, maybe we can get a positive trade-off with the Crimson Tide if they just slide the Spartans Aiden Sherrell in the transfer portal.

We can dream.

Jaxon Richardson is forging his own path

You have to respect a young athlete for going against what might be familiar and comfortable to forge their own path. There’s something to be said about a player who works for what they get and isn’t just handed anything because of who they are.

Jase still followed his dad’s footsteps at Michigan State and found plenty of success for how good of a player he was, not because his dad was a Spartan legend.

Jaxon will be doing what Jase did, just not in East Lansing. He’s going to be a one-and-done candidate for Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide, and that team could be a legitimate national title contender, especially if the youngest Richardson lives up to the hype.

It’ll be interesting to see who has the most successful career between Jason, Jase, and Jaxon.