One of the most exciting times of the season in the NBA is the all-star weekend, involving great events including the USA vs. World game, the celebrity game, the three-point shooting contest, the skills challenge, the all-star game and of course the NBA slam Dunk Contest. As each season goes by, the dunk contest is one of the most viewed events, and always has fans giving their subjective views on the contest and how it stacks up to contests in the past. This is why the NBA and their commissioner Adam Silver attempts to make the most exciting and competitive dunk contest they can.
This year, the NBA has picked some bright young stars to give them a spotlight in the dunk contest, the lineup for the event includes Victor Oladipo from the Indiana Pacers, Dennis Smith Jr. from the Dallas Mavericks, Larry Nance Jr. from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz who replaced inured Aaron Gordon. With a talented field like this, the King is looking forward to watching the event live, and he has picked who he believes will win.
LeBron’s supporting his teammates
When asked who he will be supporting in the 2018 NBA slam dunk contest, LeBron quickly pointed to his newest Cavaliers teammate, saying “Well, (Larry) is my teammate, so I’m definitely rooting for him.” before realising Pacers star Victor Oladipo is technically his teammate too as he picked him for Team LeBron in the all-star game “Oladipo is my teammate too, right?
Team LeBron, huh… I’m taking those two.” LeBron is a fan of the game and likes all four participants of the dunk contest, but it’s no surprise he chooses his teammates first, as he always has his whole career.
Both these young and athletic stars have a great chance of winning the slam dunk contest, and they’ve showed us some spectacular jams all season long.
Larry Nance Jr. has already thrown down a few jams as a Cavaliers after destroying rims all season in Los Angeles. And after an offseason body figure improvement, Victor Oladipo is playing as great and as athletic as ever, and he will be looking to show out in the second slam dunk contest of his career.
Who will win?
This year's contest should be a fun one, with many athletic stars performing and showing the fans their skills.
Although both Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon will not be participating after showing the fans something they’ve never seen before in recent years, the show is still expected to be exciting.
The dunk contest in recent years is all about young players showing their hops, stars like LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and DeAndre Jordan have yet to ever participate in a dunk contest during their careers, it is unlikely they ever will. LeBron aged 33, is past his athletic prime although he is still able to destroy rims and get his eyes rim level. Westbrook and Jordan at age 29 can still get up there and throw down some powerful jams, but turning 30 on their next birthday makes it unlikely the NBA will choose them to stack up against the young guys in the future.
