Blazers guard Anfernee Simons and Pacers two-way guard Cassius Stanley are expected to join Knicks forward Obi Toppin in the All-Star slam dunk contest on March 7, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
All three players would be first-time participants in the contest, which is set to take place at halftime of the All-Star Game next Sunday.
Simons, 21, has averaged 8.5 points, 1.2 assists and 17.5 minutes for Portland this season. Stanley would become the first player on a two-way contract to ever compete in a dunk contest — the 21-year-old has only appeared in eight games for the Pacers this year.
Along with the dunk contest, the three-point contest and skills competition will also be held on March 7 in Atlanta. The league’s traditional method of spreading the events over a weekend has been voided this season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Stanley should have stayed at Duke.
In the interest of maintaining strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols, the NBA will be providing both the Milk and Cookies for the DUNK Contest !!
Just cancel the dunk contest if these are the best players that agreed to participate.
Why? This should not be a covid problem, as much as the ASG.
Oh boy, if those Toppin, Simons & Stanley are so far the slam dunkers… well that just gives a whole new meanin’ to the expression scrappin’ the bottom of the barrel, right?
If it’s going to be a joke like this go all out and let the shortest players use trampolines and make the 3 point contest a brick fest with gobert DeAndre Jordan Ben Simmons types in it