{"id":137072,"date":"2025-04-30T16:19:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T20:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=137072"},"modified":"2025-04-30T16:19:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T20:19:03","slug":"2026-slam-dunk-contest-gets-more-grizzlies-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/30\/2026-slam-dunk-contest-gets-more-grizzlies-hype\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Slam Dunk Contest Gets More Grizzlies Hype"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week, Memphis Grizzlies guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pippesc02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scotty Pippen Jr.<\/a> appeared on Get Up to discuss <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/26\/2025-nba-playoffs-1-mistake-doomed-grizzlies-thunder-sweep\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">his team\u2019s First Round elimination<\/a> and a season as a whole. While the entire segment is worth watching, one statement was particularly interesting. Discussing face of the franchise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a>, Pippen told the crew that his electrifying teammate \u201cmight\u201d be in next year\u2019s Slam Dunk Contest.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if Morant has had any brow-raising dunks behind the scenes, Pippen says:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has crazy bounce.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&#8220;Ja Morant said he might do the Dunk Contest next year, so I don&#8217;t want to spoil anything he&#8217;s done.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Scotty Pippen Jr. shares what he&#8217;s learned playing with Ja, but he&#8217;s keeping Ja&#8217;s practice dunks to himself \ud83d\udc40<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spippenjr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@spippenjr<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichelleDBeadle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MichelleDBeadle<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamLou23?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TeamLou23<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChandlerParsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ChandlerParsons<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HPNilxsBIK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HPNilxsBIK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RunItBackFDTV\/status\/1917246263235318067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said he might do (the Dunk Contest) next year, so I don&#8217;t want to spoil anything he&#8217;s done.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>2026 Slam Dunk Contest Gets More Grizzlies Hype<\/h2>\n<p>Morant participating in the Slam Dunk Contest would do wonders for its popularity. Once one of the most exhilarating and anticipated events, it\u2019s now a glorified side show. Instead of being treated to stars, the fans have only been able to root for lesser known players.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to take away from their athletic ability. In fact, the undrafted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mccluma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mac McClung<\/a> is now <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/16\/spurs-all-star-notes-mcclung-misery-wacky-wembanyama\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a three-time Slam Dunk champion<\/a>. Nonetheless, the field has been watered down, lacking star power.<\/p>\n<h3>Highlight Years<\/h3>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2014, former Washington Wizards star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walljo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Wall<\/a> faced off against a field that included two now nine-time All-Stars in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a><\/li>\n<li>In 2015, Milwaukee Bucks face of the franchise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> was among a field that included two now two-time All-Stars in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/oladivi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Oladipo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lavinza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach LaVine<\/a><\/li>\n<li>In 2016, LaVine went head-to-head with players like former Orlando Magic face of the franchise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gordoaa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Gordon<\/a> and former Detroit Pistons face of the franchise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/drumman01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Drummond<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Since 2016, which is seen by many as the last great (or even the last true) Slam Dunk Contest, only three have featured at least two players who were All-Stars or the face of their franchise.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2017, Gordon battled against first-time All-Star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordade01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Drummond<\/a>. The other participants were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonesde02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Jones Jr.<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/robingl02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glenn Robinson III<\/a>, the latter of whom won but is no longer in the NBA<\/li>\n<li>In 2018, an already dominant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Mitchell<\/a> took on Oladipo. The other participants were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nancela02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Nance Jr.<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithde03.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dennis Smith Jr.<\/a>, the former the son of the 1984 Slam Dunk champion and the latter going unsigned in 2024-25<\/li>\n<li>In 2020, Gordon returned to the contest to take on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/howardw01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dwight Howard<\/a>, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/06\/dwight-howard-hall-of-fame-induction\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">recently announced as<\/a> a member of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/19\/vince-carter-carmelo-anthony-headlines-2025-hall-of-fame-class\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame class<\/a>. They would compete against Jones Jr., who won, and Milwaukee Bucks guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/connapa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pat Connaughton<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Changing of the Guard<\/h3>\n<p>Five years later?<\/p>\n<p>Fans are <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/28\/2025-slam-dunk-contest-another-with-little-star-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">immensely disappointed by<\/a> the players who have been named to the Slam Dunk Contest. Frankly, even the star players seem fed up. Shortly after McClung was named the victor of the 2025 Slam Dunk Contest, several took to social media <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/17\/ja-morant-convince-star-players-2026-nba-dunk-contest\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">to express their desire<\/a> to take part in next year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n<p>That group included Morant, Antetokounmpo, LaVine, and Gordon.<\/p>\n<p>Morant is the only one of the aforementioned players who has never taken part in the event. He\u2019s also the one closest to his athletic prime, the others on the wrong side of 30. With that being said, it would be great to have other stars from his generation participate.<\/p>\n<p>New Orleans Pelicans forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willizi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zion Williamson<\/a>, a spectacular in-game dunker, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/06\/pelicans-zion-williamson-dunk-contest-promise-with-a-catch\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">has teased his interest<\/a>. Minnesota Timberwolves wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a> is another exemplary talent. Unfortunately, he\u2019s said <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JonKrawczynski\/status\/1484970926928244751\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he doesn\u2019t want to<\/a> do the contest. However, Morant and others may convince him to change his mind.<\/p>\n<p>Placing players like that against non-stars who are elite athletes could bring the Slam Dunk Contest back to life. That being said, The Thompson Twins, Amen and Ausar, would be fun to watch.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. appeared on Get Up to discuss his team\u2019s First Round elimination and a season as a whole. While the entire segment is worth watching, one statement was particularly interesting. Discussing face of the franchise Ja Morant, Pippen told the crew that his electrifying teammate \u201cmight\u201d be in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":137081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1608,9,20,10,31,27,15,21,62,33,3,17,29,24,18],"tags":[472,4703,4704,306,1822,44533,457,1684],"class_list":["post-137072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grizzlies","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-nuggets","category-pistons","category-rockets","category-clippers","category-bucks","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-pelicans","category-news","category-magic","category-kings","category-jazz","category-wizards","tag-aaron-gordon","tag-amen-thompson","tag-ausar-thompson","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-ja-morant","tag-slam-dunk-contest","tag-zach-lavine","tag-zion-williamson"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137072"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137085,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137072\/revisions\/137085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}