Paul George confirms he's unlikely to do dunk contest
How is Paul George gonna do us like this?
Not only does he have a pretty seriously underrated dunk to avenge, he threw down one of the greatest non-poster dunks of all time on Saturday night (see below).
But no, sadly, George will reportedly not be participating in the 2014 Slam Dunk Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend, declining an invitation from the league. He also won't do the skills contest or 3-point shootout. That's his current thinking, at least:
Although George —who made his first All-Star appearance as a player last year — has not completely closed the door on the possibility, he confirmed that he likely will not participate in other All-Star weekend events such as the Skills Contest and will not make a return appearance to the 3-point Shootout.
"Exactly, I don't want to add to it by doing extra stuff," George said, answering a question about why he won't do it.
Well, we wan't you to add to it by doing extra stuff, Paul.
With the event less than a month away now, it's unclear what the field may look like. Dwight Howard has turned down an invitation, and there are conflicting reports (here and here, almost simultaneously) about Terrence Ross' participation.
Not that we have any say whatsoever, but here's a realistic field of six the NBA could throw out to build some new names, relying on the event rather than superstars to sell the contest: Tony Mitchell, Victor Oladipo, Quincy Miller, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Miles Plumlee and Ross. All young, all with major hops.
[Dap: EOB]