3. AT&T Slam Dunk contest
The field:
The Slam Dunk Contest is the biggest wild card of every NBA All-Star weekend. If the contestants are clean in their dunks, it goes well. But if they get to their third or fourth tries on their dunks, it can put a damper on All-Star Saturday.
It’s also very difficult to pull off dunks we haven’t seen, but this field of dunkers is pretty intriguing and has some local feel to keep the crowd engaged.
Hamidou Diallo has the second-best vertical jump (44.5 inches) ever recorded at the NBA Draft Combine, so it will be interesting to see if he can put that aerial prowess on display with creative
dunks.
John Collins and Miles Bridges are two powerful dunkers, but can their in-game highlights transition to a competition that values creativity and presentation? Collins attended Wake Forest in college and Bridges plays for the Charlotte Hornets, so we’ll see how those ties are incorporated into the contest.
The headliner is Dennis Smith Jr., who is from Fayetteville, North Carolina and attended North Carolina State for one year. It’ll be interesting to see what his presentation looks like with how much he can play off the home crowd. Oh yeah, and he has arguably the best set of hops among NBA guards, and had the best dunk of last year’s competition despite not advancing to the finals.
There were thoughts of swapping this with the Rising Stars game, but the Dunk Contest can elevate an All-Star weekend way more than the first two exhibitions.
Winner: Dennis Smith Jr.