Meet those who will revive the NBA dunk contest.
Or something.
Sources gave Cleveland.com’s Chris Haynes a preview of next Saturday’s dunk-contest lineup, and he was kind enough to share his intel:
The field for the NBA Slam Dunk Contest scheduled for Feb. 13 in Toronto is set, according to league sources.
The defending champion in Minnesota’s Zach Lavine, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Denver’s Will Barton and Orlando’s Aaron Gordon are this year’s participants, league sources informed cleveland.com.
Zach LaVine is the defending slam dunk champion and has steel-reinforced springs for legs. Andre Drummond is a monster who soars through the air with surprising grace—more so than Dwight Howard ever did.
Aaron Gordon is, perhaps, the best in-game dunker in the NBA; he’s like a more aerodynamic version of Blake Griffin. And Will Barton is the baseline-dunking King.
This event, if nothing else, guarantees to include some nifty attempts, even they don’t go down. The dunk contest received a miniature boom in popularity and significance last season, with LaVine setting the floor ablaze via his contrived recklessness, and each of these four participants, accomplished dunkers in their own right, serve to advance that mystique.
