The NBA Dunk Contest lost some of its luster a few years back to the point where the format was changed and its future looked murky. But the original format came back and some high flyers have brought back the excitement to the event.
This year’s Dunk Contest will wrap up the Saturday activities in the lead-up to the All-Star Game on Sunday. Last year’s winner, Glenn Robinson III, won’t be participating in 2018 so it opens this up for a new champion to take the crown.
Aaron Gordon would have been the favorite but he had to withdraw due to injury which makes the field pretty wide open.
The 2018 NBA Rising Stars Challenge will go down Saturday, February 17, 2018, at 8 p.m. ET at the Staples Center. The game will be televised live on TNT.
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Odds Analysis
Gordon is a high flyer and certainly would have been the dunker to beat in this one. A balky hamstring injury has forced him to withdraw, and now the player that has been listed as the favorite is Hawks rookie Dennis Smith at +170. Even though he only stands 6-foot-3, Smith is a high flyer with the ability to wow the crowd, and the oddsmakers certainly believe he will make a favorable first impression.
The dunker with the second-best odds is Donovan Mitchell at +250. The Jazz rookie guard has taken the league by storm and now will look to add another accolade by winning the dunk contest. He is another smaller contestant but figures to be right in the mix.
Cavaliers forward Larry Nance, Jr. has +265 odds and he would love to come away with the victory. The fourth and final contestant is Victor Oladipo. He has been in the field before but the oddsmakers have posited him as the longshot, though +400 odds isn’t horrible.
Player To Watch
Nance — This guy has a famous father who won the dunk contest in 1984. Larry Nance, Sr. was a high-flyer for the Cavaliers and now his son is looking to follow up with a dunk contest title of his own.
It would be a really cool moment and Nance certainly has the hops to do so. Don’t discount a storyline like this for the dunk contest. The judges include former high flyer Julius Erving and WNBA star Lisa Leslie, but also Chris Rock, Mark Wahlberg and D.J. Khaled.
If Nance can put on a good show in addition to throwing down monstrous dunks, he could definitely be in contention.
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The rookies might have an advantage because judges like rooting for the smaller guys, and no one has seen their dunks on a stage like this. Even so, the odds for them are not lucrative enough.
If a guy like Gordon was in the field it would make sense to choose the favorite because he’s so dominant, but without a clear-cut dunker to beat, take the better odds.
Nance has some big-time hops and should come in with some good ideas. He is the choice to win the dunk contest and would pay off nicely.
NBA Odds: Larry Nance To Win The Dunk Contest
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