The NBA Slam Dunk Contest is Saturday night. It is part of a bevy of festivities, including the three-point contest and the skills competition, so its exact time is not known. Given the timeframe of the preceding events, it should be on between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. EST on TNT. The complete event schedule is here.
For the second time ever, fan votes will determine the Dunk Contest's winner. The details of how to participate and the players' rules are enclosed in this story on the NBA site.
In the first round of the competition, the conference's participants will battle each other, ensuring the championship round will be between one Eastern Conference player and one Western Conference player. Over four million fans voted last season.
To view the participants' highlights compiled by the NBA, click on their names.
Utah Jazz' Jeremy Evans is the defending champion, hailing from the Western Conference. He'll be opposed by Eric Bledsoe of the Clippers and Kenneth Faried of the Nuggets in the first round.
The Pacers' Gerald Green has won once before (in 2007). He will square off with Terrence Ross of the Raptors and James White of the Knicks in the opening round.
White claims that his five pre-selected dunks will all net him perfect scores.
In addition to his win in Las Vegas, Green has also competed in the 2008 Dunk Contest.
Ross got quite the boost in social media from the Raptors, so he could be a big favorite in the finals on that same push alone.
Bledsoe may have the underdog factor heading into the competition. He will try to follow Nate Robinson's trend of the shortest participant winning.
That precedent may actually pave the way for Kenneth Faried to surprise the crowd. He's one of the better rebounders in the league and now has a chance to smash the glass instead of clean it.
Evans had the support of the digital crowd before, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him return to the finals if he wows again.
Here are the full highlights from last year's contest.
Here are the dunks from 2011's contest.
Highlights of the 2010 Dunk Contest are here.
The 2009 Slam Dunk Contest highlights are here.
The 2008 dunk competition highlights are here.
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