NBA All-Star Sunday is this weekend and the NBA has released the names that will participate in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, MTN Dew 3 Point Contest, and AT&T Slam Dunk Contest.
NBA All-Stars Luka Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks and Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns headline the Skills Challenge. New York Knicks forward Julius Randle, Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis, Portland Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington, and Orlando Magic center Nikola Vučević will join the two superstar guards.
The 3-Point Contest is led by past champions Devin Booker and Stephen Curry, while NBA All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls, and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz will attempt to stop the two past champs from collecting another trophy. LaVine and Mitchell have both won slam dunk contests in the past and are looking to become the first player in history to win the dunk and 3-point contest.
The new AT&T Slam Dunk champion will be crowned this year as first-time participants Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers, Cassius Stanley of the Indiana Pacers, and Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks compete for the title at halftime of the All-Star Game.
Simons is averaging 8.2 points and shooting a career-high 40.7 percent from the three-point range in his third NBA season. Stanley, a 6-5 rookie guard on a two-way contract, was selected by the Pacers with the 54th pick in NBA Draft 2020 presented by State Farm. He recorded a maximum vertical leap of 44 inches in the 2020 NBA Draft Combine, tied for the third-highest mark since 2000. Toppin, a 6-9 rookie forward, was selected by the Knicks with the eighth pick in NBA Draft 2020 presented by State Farm. As a redshirt sophomore at the University of Dayton last season, Toppin led the nation in dunks and was named the consensus National Player of the Year.