Each randomly assigned Bingo card has 24 All-Star Saturday props, plus one free square in the center that you’ll get for free at the start of the Slam Dunk Contest. Smith, Mitchell and Nance are all first-time participants. The dunk contest was back… again. They brought it, as all four players had impressive dunks.
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Following his first ideal 50-point alley-oop dunk with one hand, Mitchell’s final and winning dunk saw him break out into a Vince Carter Raptors jersey to complete his replication of the “It’s over” pose used by Carter in 2000.
NEXT: The NBA All-Star Game is at 8 p.m. Sunday at Staples Center.
Jason Richardson (2004) – Reigning champ Richardson pulled off a repeat by capping a dazzling display of athleticism with an off-the-backboard, between-the-legs dunk that drew immediate ideal scores from the judges.
My last question for Junior: If you could compete in a four-man dunk contest against any three dunkers in National Basketball Association history, who would you want to go against?
“I’d put him right up there”, Lee said.
And then, he just trusted the Utah Jazz player enough to stand there while Mitchell soared over him and advanced to the finals of the competition, where he beat Larry Nance Jr. for this year’s title.
He brought out actor and comedian Kevin Hart and Hart’s son, along with his sister Jordan, and dunked over all three on a lob off the side of the backboard for a 50. Nance Jr. also caught a lob from his dad for his third dunk.
What Smith was excited about was that Utah’s Donovan Mitchell won the event.
However, Mitchell would go on to claim the win after his fine attempt to duplicate Carter’s memorable 360-windmill dunk from the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Zach Lavine won the slam dunk contest in both 2015 and 2016, and his battle with Aaron Gordon two years ago was one of the most memorable in recent years.
Nance has his first and last dunk planned but part of the rules are to use a prop and that is one he is still working on. Just last weeks he met with Vince Carter before a game against the Sacramento Kings and picked the former contest champ’s brain.
While his gallery of dunks were all noteworthy, the alley-oop dunk to himself showed off Webb’s timing, power and athleticism.
Every dunk contest needs a big man, and Nance Jr.is a fine representative.
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Mitchell, in his first season in the league, has taken the league – especially the Jazz fanbase – by storm so far during the 2017-18 year.
