Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves will be back in this year's National Basketball Association (NBA) Slam Dunk contest presented by Verizon as he tries to join an elite list of champions who were able to win it two-years-in-a-row.
LaVine will see what this year's challengers have to bring on the table. The other participants include Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons, Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic, and Will Barton of the Denver Nuggets.
Drummond is an interesting entry, considering he is a big man in the mix. While Drummond has proven he can slam it down, the fact is he does it working around the basket. He is rarely the type who runs the break so it will be interesting what tricks he has up his sleeves.
On the other end, Aaron Gordon and Will Barton could offer some new highlight reels to give LaVine a run for his money.
However, the obvious star of the show is the defending champion. LaVine wowed crowds last year by becoming the youngest player since Kobe Bryant to win the competition.
He defeated Victor Oladipo last year with a magnificent array of dunks and NBA fans are eager to see what new ones he will showcase in Toronto.
Other than that, LaVine will be looking to join Michael Jordan, Nate Robinson, and Jason Richardson who won back-to-back Slam Dunk titles in past years.
Compared to previous dunk contests, the competition has somehow lost its luster with the frequent changes made. The freestyle dunk attempts are nice, but somehow there is a lack of order in the festivity compared to the time when Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, and Dominique Wilkins went at it.
Then again, LaVine showed he could dazzle with his artistic dunks and, hopefully, he doesn't focus on the same ones he displayed last year.
A good addition would have been LaVine's teammate Andrew Wiggins, although he may be content letting his brother show off his own arsenal of dunks.
