The 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend Dunk Competition provisional contestants have been leaked, with a slew of young NBA talent set to thrill on All Star Saturday, taking place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City on February 14. 2015's NBA All-Star Weekend Dunk Contest will reportedly feature Mason Plumlee of the Brooklyn Nets, the Orlando Magic's Victor Oladipo, Zach Lavine of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Milwaukee Bucks 'Greek Freak', Giannis Antetokounmpo. There may still be other contestants — last year there were six — such as Philadelphia 76er KJ McDaniels and leading Rookie of the Year candidate and No. 1 NBA draft pick, Andrew Wiggins of the Wolves.
Yahoo Sources: The Greek Freak and Victor Oladipo are two of young stars committed to All-Star Slam Dunk contest. https://t.co/uHDD6HpFhn
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 21, 2015
As reported by Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski, sources say that Antetokounmpo and Oladipo "have committed to participating in the All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk contest", while "Nets center Mason Plumlee" and Timberwolves rookie Lavine "will be a part of the competition too."
As NBC Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin says, "That's a lot of great athletes."
And he's not wrong. Wojnarowski points out Lavine has a 44-inch vertical leap, while Antetokounmpo and Plumlee are two of the NBA's most athletic big men, adding that "Plumlee high-jumped 6-8 in high school and was the runner-up in the McDonald's High School All-American game dunk contest."
Is Mason Plumlee going to be in the 2015 NBA Slam Dunk contest? #Nets https://t.co/r3nFYA61UK pic.twitter.com/uJCLkvJOrj
— NetsDaily.com (@NetsDaily) January 21, 2015
The dunk contest — which was 'won' by Washington Wizards star John Wall in 2014... but was also marred last year by a slew of confusing rule changes — is a favored event of the NBA All Star weekend, but has faced plenty of criticism for its shifting rules, and inability to lure top notch dunking talent like Blake Griffin and LeBron James.
Want to know who will be participating in the dunk contest this year? @KristenLedlow will tell you in this update https://t.co/eYy4nsyUbM
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 21, 2015
Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler also tweeted out a leaked memo showing what sort of prize the winner of Slam Dunk comp gets... and it's a cool $100k.
. @gbradley04: @KSFantastic @SixersBlog winner gets 100k right? ---> here are the All-Star payouts - pic.twitter.com/pBM0dzG7yA
— Steve Kyler (@stevekylerNBA) January 21, 2015
Who else would you like to see step up for this year's dunk comp?