Donovan Mitchell didn’t defend his Slam Dunk Contest title at All-Star Weekend, but he might have reason enough to give it a go next season. The Utah Jazz forward wasn’t an All-Star this year, though he did play in the Rising Stars game for the second straight season.
But the rookie wowed everyone in the annual Saturday night Dunk Contest in 2018, the capper when he donned a throwback Vince Carter jersey and did one of the basketball legend’s signature dunks. He took 2018 off, but after the All-Star dust settled on Sunday night it appears he’d be interested in a return engagement in Chicago in 2020.
It all started when Giannis Antetokounmpo tweeted about one of the game’s signature moments — Steph Curry throwing a massive bounce pass over Kevin Durant that essentially served as a lob to the Greek Freak for a massive dunk. That move inspired Giannis to suggest maybe he should be in the dunk contest next year.
Dunk contest next year??🤔 👍🏽or👎🏽 https://t.co/Xg6aPoTjOI
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 18, 2019
A few minutes later, Mitchell quote tweeted the Bucks superstar and suggested that if Giannis dunks, he’ll dunk as well.
If you do it I’m in 🤷🏾♂️ https://t.co/H5iR2GVd1X
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) February 18, 2019
Not that this year’s contest lacked skill and style, but it would certainly be a treat to see Mitchell at it again. And Antetokounmpo is as intriguing a big man as there is in the game: he would certainly make for an interesting dunk contest participant, if only after watching him throw down a variety of impressive dunks in the All-Star Game. These competitions rarely seem to live up to the hype once they actually get underway, but it’s definitely fun to think about Mitchell and Giannis exchanging dunks in Chicago next year. Maybe we already know half the field for that showdown.
