TIMBERWOLVES’ LAVINE TO
DEFEND TITLE IN 2016 VERIZON SLAM DUNK
– Pistons All-Star Drummond Makes Event
Debut as Part of Four-Player Field –
The Minnesota
Timberwolves’ Zach LaVine will defend his title in 2016 Verizon Slam Dunk at Air
Canada Centre in Toronto on Saturday, Feb. 13.
LaVine, who won the NBA’s signature above-the-rim showcase in spectacular fashion as a 19-year-old rookie last year, is joined by three first-time
competitors: Will Barton of the Denver Nuggets, 2016 NBA All-Star
Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons and Aaron Gordon of the
Orlando Magic.
Verizon Slam Dunk is part of State Farm® All-Star Saturday
Night, which will be exclusively televised by TNT in the U.S. at 7:30 p.m. ET. This marks Turner Sports’ 31st year
of NBA All-Star coverage. Sportsnet and
TSN will simulcast Verizon Slam Dunk in Canada.
LaVine is seeking to join Michael Jordan
(1987-88), Jason Richardson (2002-03) and Nate Robinson (2009-10) as the only
solo back-to-back winners of Verizon Slam Dunk.
LaVine, who was also selected to the U.S. Team for the BBVA Compass
Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 12, is averaging 12.8
points and 3.2
assists in his second NBA season.
Barton is enjoying a breakout year, averaging career highs in points (15.5 ppg),
rebounds (6.0 rpg) and assists (2.3 apg) in his fourth season. His
scoring average is second among players who have come off the bench in more
than half their games, behind the New Orleans Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson (17.2 ppg). No Nuggets player has ever won Verizon Slam
Dunk.
Drummond, who leads the NBA in rebounding (15.0 rpg) and double-doubles (41),
earned an All-Star nod for the first time in his four-year career. He is the first Detroit player to make the
Eastern Conference All-Star team since Allen Iverson in the 2008-09
season. The last Piston to compete in
Verizon Slam Dunk was Jerry Stackhouse in 2000.
Gordon, the fourth pick of NBA Draft 2014 presented by State Farm, is
averaging 7.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in his second season and recently became
a starter with the Magic. He is looking
to join Dwight Howard (2008) as Orlando players to win Verizon Slam Dunk.
Verizon Slam Dunk is a two-round event in which the four participants can
perform any dunk they choose without time limits. The players have a maximum of three attempts
to complete each dunk in both the first round and the final round. Five judges score every dunk on a scale of 6
to 10, resulting in a high score of 50 and a low score of 30. All four competitors get two dunks in the
first round. The two dunkers with the highest combined score for their two dunks
advance to the head-to-head final round. The player with the highest combined score for
his two dunks in the final round is crowned the champion.
NBA All-Star 2016 in Toronto – the
first NBA All-Star held outside the U.S. – will bring together some of the most
talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global
celebration of the game. The 65th
NBA All-Star Game, which will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 14 at Air
Canada Centre, will reach fans in more than 200 countries in more than 40
languages. TNT will televise the
All-Star Game in the U.S. for the 14th consecutive year. Air Canada Centre will also host the BBVA
Compass Rising Stars Challenge at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 12 and State Farm
All-Star Saturday Night. Other events at
NBA All-Star 2016 include the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Mountain
Dew and the NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire.
Below is the lineup
for 2016 Verizon Slam Dunk and a list of previous winners:
2016 VERIZON SLAM DUNK
PARTICIPANTS
Participant,
Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Will Barton, Denver Nuggets G 6-6 175
Andre Drummond, Detroit
Pistons C 6-11 279
Aaron Gordon, Orlando Magic F 6-9
220
Zach LaVine, Minnesota Timberwolves G 6-5 189
Zach LaVine, Minnesota Timberwolves G 6-5 189
VERIZON
SLAM DUNK YEAR-BY-YEAR WINNERS
1984—Larry Nance, Phoenix 2001—Desmond
Mason, Seattle
1985—Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta 2002—Jason Richardson, Golden State
1986—Spud Webb, Atlanta 2003—Jason Richardson, Golden State
1987—Michael Jordan, Chicago 2004—Fred Jones, Indiana
1988—Michael Jordan, Chicago 2005—Josh Smith, Atlanta
1989—Kenny Walker, New York 2006—Nate Robinson, New York
1990—Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta 2007—Gerald Green, Boston
1991—Dee Brown, Boston 2008—Dwight Howard, Orlando
1992—Cedric Ceballos, Phoenix 2009—Nate Robinson, New York
1993—Harold Miner, Miami 2010—Nate Robinson, New York
1994—Isaiah Rider, Minnesota 2011—Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers
1995—Harold Miner, Miami 2012—Jeremy Evans, Utah
1996—Brent Barry, L.A. Clippers 2013—Terrence Ross, Toronto
1997—Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 2014—Eastern Conference (Paul George, Terrence Ross, John Wall)
2000—Vince Carter, Toronto 2015—Zach LaVine, Minnesota
1985—Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta 2002—Jason Richardson, Golden State
1986—Spud Webb, Atlanta 2003—Jason Richardson, Golden State
1987—Michael Jordan, Chicago 2004—Fred Jones, Indiana
1988—Michael Jordan, Chicago 2005—Josh Smith, Atlanta
1989—Kenny Walker, New York 2006—Nate Robinson, New York
1990—Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta 2007—Gerald Green, Boston
1991—Dee Brown, Boston 2008—Dwight Howard, Orlando
1992—Cedric Ceballos, Phoenix 2009—Nate Robinson, New York
1993—Harold Miner, Miami 2010—Nate Robinson, New York
1994—Isaiah Rider, Minnesota 2011—Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers
1995—Harold Miner, Miami 2012—Jeremy Evans, Utah
1996—Brent Barry, L.A. Clippers 2013—Terrence Ross, Toronto
1997—Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 2014—Eastern Conference (Paul George, Terrence Ross, John Wall)
2000—Vince Carter, Toronto 2015—Zach LaVine, Minnesota
WARRIORS’ CURRY AND THOMPSON AMONG FIVE NBA ALL-STARS
TO COMPETE IN 2016 FOOT LOCKER THREE-POINT CONTEST
TO COMPETE IN 2016 FOOT LOCKER THREE-POINT CONTEST
– All-Stars Bosh and Lowry Make Competition
Debuts; All-Star Harden Also in Field –
Defending champion
Stephen Curry and Golden State Warriors teammate Klay Thompson lead a list of five
NBA All-Stars who will showcase their shooting range in the 2016 Foot Locker
Three-Point Contest on Saturday, Feb. 13 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The
eight-player field also features 2016 All-Stars Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, James
Harden of the Houston Rockets and Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, as well as
Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks and
J.J. Redick of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The
Foot Locker Three-Point Contest is part of State Farm® All-Star Saturday Night, which will be exclusively televised by TNT in the U.S. at 7:30 p.m.
ET. This marks Turner Sports’ 31st
year of NBA All-Star coverage. Sportsnet
and TSN will simulcast the Foot Locker
Three-Point Contest in Canada.
Curry, the NBA’s top scorer (29.8
ppg), has led the league in three-pointers made in each of the last three
seasons and is setting the pace again this season. He has hit 232 threes during the Warriors’ 45-4 start, becoming the first player in NBA history to
sink 200 in four consecutive seasons and putting him on track to shatter his
own NBA record of 286 set last season.
The 2014-15 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, an All-Star starter for the
third straight year, will be competing in his fifth Foot Locker Three-Point Contest.
Thompson returns for his
second Foot Locker Three-Point Contest after reaching the championship round
last year. He ranks second in the NBA
with 155 three-pointers made, as he closes in on matching Curry with his fourth
consecutive season of at least 200 triples.
Thompson, an All-Star for the second year in a row, is averaging 21.5
points and shooting better than 40 percent from deep for the fifth straight
year.
Harden, the NBA’s second-leading
scorer (27.9 ppg), is also competing for the second year in a row. The four-time All-Star is third in the NBA in
three-pointers made (140) and second to Curry in attempts (401). On Jan. 20, Harden became the youngest player
(26 years, 147 days) to reach 1,000 career threes made.
The other two 2016 All-Stars
in the field are from the Eastern Conference. Bosh, an All-Star for the 11th
consecutive year, leads the Heat in three-pointers made with a career-high 78. Lowry, representing the hometown Raptors and
starting in the All-Star Game for the second year in a row, is shooting a career-high
38.8 percent from beyond the arc and ranks fourth in the NBA in three-pointers
made (135) and fifth in attempts (348).
Booker is the first rookie to
compete in the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest since Curry in 2010. The 19-year-old Suns guard leads all rookies in
three-point field goal percentage (41.8, 12th in the NBA). On Jan. 19, Booker set a franchise rookie
record with six three-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points against the
Indiana Pacers. He also hit six threes
against the Raptors on Feb. 2, finishing with 27 points.
Middleton and Redick are both
having strong shooting seasons.
Middleton is connecting on 41.2 percent from three-point range, helping
him average a career-high 17.6 points.
Redick (16.0 ppg) is converting an NBA-high 48.2 percent of his
threes. On Jan. 18, Redick equaled a
Clippers record with nine three-pointers as part of a career-high 40-point
performance against Houston.
In the two-round, timed
competition, five shooting locations are positioned around the three-point
arc. Four racks contain four orange
balls (each worth one point) and one multi-colored “money” ball (worth two
points). The fifth rack is a special
“all money ball” rack, which each participant can place at any of the five
shooting locations. Every ball on this
rack is worth two points. The players
have one minute to shoot as many as the 25 balls as they can. The three competitors with the highest scores
in the first round advance to the championship round. Complete
rules can be found at mediacentral.nba.com.
NBA
All-Star 2016 in Toronto – the first NBA All-Star held outside the U.S. – will
bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s
history for a global celebration of the game.
The 65th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place at 8 p.m.
ET on Sunday, Feb. 14 at Air Canada Centre, will reach fans in more than 200
countries in more than 40 languages. TNT
will televise the All-Star Game in the U.S. for the 14th consecutive year. Air Canada Centre will also host the BBVA
Compass Rising Stars Challenge at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 12 and State Farm
All-Star Saturday Night. Other events at
NBA All-Star 2016 include the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Mountain
Dew and the NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire.
Below is the lineup for the Foot
Locker Three-Point Contest and a list of previous winners:
2016 FOOT
LOCKER THREE-POINT CONTEST PARTICIPANTS
*2015-16 season*
Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Made Att. %
Devin
Booker, Phoenix G 6-6 206 51 122 41.8
Chris
Bosh, Miami F 6-11 235 78 213 36.6
Stephen
Curry, Golden State G 6-3 190 232 506 45.8
James
Harden, Houston G 6-5 220 140 401 34.9
Kyle
Lowry, Toronto G 6-0 205 135 348 38.8
Khris
Middleton, Milwaukee F 6-8 234 100 243 41.2
J.J. Redick, L.A. Clippers G 6-4 190 120 249 48.2
Klay Thompson, Golden State G 6-7 215 155 357 43.4
J.J. Redick, L.A. Clippers G 6-4 190 120 249 48.2
Klay Thompson, Golden State G 6-7 215 155 357 43.4
(Statistics through games played on Wednesday,
Feb. 3)
FOOT LOCKER THREE-POINT CONTEST YEAR-BY-YEAR WINNERS
1986 – Larry Bird, Boston 1995 – Glen Rice, Miami 2006 – Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 1987
– Larry Bird, Boston 1996 – Tim Legler,
Washington 2007 – Jason Kapono, Miami
1988 – Larry Bird, Boston 1997 – Steve Kerr, Chicago
2008 – Jason Kapono, Toronto
1989 – Dale Ellis, Seattle 1998 – Jeff Hornacek, Utah 2009 – Daequan Cook, Miami
1990 – Craig Hodges, Chicago 2000 – Jeff Hornacek, Utah
2010 – Paul Pierce, Boston
1991 – Craig Hodges, Chicago 2001 – Ray Allen, Milwaukee 2011
– James Jones, Miami
1992 – Craig Hodges, Chicago 2002 – Peja Stojakovic, Sacramento 2012
– Kevin Love, Minnesota
1993 – Mark Price, Cleveland 2003 – Peja Stojakovic, Sacramento 2013
– Kyrie Irving, Cleveland
1994 – Mark Price, Cleveland 2004 – Voshon Leonard, Denver 2014 – Marco Belinelli, San Antonio
2005 –
Quentin Richardson, Phoenix 2015 – Stephen Curry, Golden State
NBA
ALL-STARS COUSINS, DAVIS AND GREEN, TIMBERWOLVES’ TOWNS ADD FRONTCOURT FLAIR TO
2016 TACO BELL® SKILLS CHALLENGE
– Multiple Frontcourt Players to Compete for First Time in Event
History –
NBA All-Stars DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings, Anthony Davis of
the New Orleans Pelicans and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors will
headline the 2016 Taco Bell®
Skills Challenge at Air Canada Centre in
Toronto on Saturday, Feb. 13. Three-time
reigning Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month Karl-Anthony Towns of
the Minnesota Timberwolves rounds out the quartet of versatile frontcourt
players in the eight-player field, the first time in the event’s 14-year
history that multiple non-guards are competing.
Defending champion Patrick Beverley
of the Houston Rockets and fellow guards Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles
Lakers, CJ McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers and All-Star Isaiah Thomas of
the Boston Celtics complete the lineup for the three-round, obstacle-course
competition that tests dribbling, passing, agility and three-point-shooting
skills. A head-to-head, bracket-style
tournament format will be used for the second year in a row. The tournament matchups will be determined at
a later date.
The Taco® Bell Skills Challenge is part of State Farm®
All-Star Saturday Night, which will be exclusively televised by TNT in the U.S.
at 7:30 p.m. ET. This marks Turner
Sports’ 31st year of NBA All-Star coverage.
Sportsnet and TSN will simulcast the Taco Bell® Skills
Challenge in Canada.
The four frontcourt
participants are enjoying exceptional seasons while using their array of skills
to affect games in many ways. Cousins
and Davis are the only NBA players averaging at least 22 points and 10 rebounds
this season. Both have expanded their
shooting range: Cousins has made 45 of his 56 career three-pointers this season,
and Davis has hit 21 of his 24 career three-pointers. Towns has also showcased his perimeter
shooting, converting 18-of-46 (39.1 percent) from beyond the arc during a
season in which he leads all rookies in rebounding (9.9 rpg) and ranks second
in scoring (16.5 ppg) and blocked shots (1.8 bpg).
Green (14.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 7.4
apg) leads the NBA with 10 triple-doubles and ranks sixth in the league in assist average – the only frontcourt
player in the top 10. The first-time
All-Star selection is shooting career highs of 48.9 percent from the field and 41.9 percent
from three-point range.
Beverley, who won the 2015 Taco®
Bell Skills Challenge in his competition debut, is shooting a career-high 42.8 percent from three-point range this season. Thomas, also participating for the second
year in a row, is averaging career highs of 21.4 points
and 6.6 assists as a first-time All-Star.
This marks the first time in the event for Clarkson, who is averaging 15.2
points in his second season, and McCollum, who has raised his scoring average
from 6.8 points last season to 20.9 points this
season (15th in the NBA).
-more-
PAGE TWO
2016 TACO BELL®
SKILLS CHALLENGE
The Taco Bell®
Skills Challenge format calls for two players to compete simultaneously on an
identical course with the fastest finisher reaching the next round. In the first round, the eight players are
paired to participate in four head-to-head competitions. The four winners advance to the second round,
where two more head-to-head showdowns determine the two finalists. Complete rules can be found at mediacentral.nba.com.
NBA All-Star 2016 in Toronto – the first NBA
All-Star held outside the U.S. – will bring together some of the most talented
and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the
game. The 65th NBA All-Star
Game, which will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 14 at Air Canada
Centre, will reach fans in more than 200 countries in more than 40
languages. TNT will televise the
All-Star Game in the U.S. for the 14th consecutive year. Air Canada Centre will also host the BBVA
Compass Rising Stars Challenge at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 12 and State Farm
All-Star Saturday Night. Other events at
NBA All-Star 2016 include the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game presented by Mountain
Dew and the NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire.
Below
is the roster for the 2016 Taco Bell®
Skills Challenge and a list of previous winners:
2016 TACO BELL® SKILLS CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS
Participant,
Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Patrick
Beverley, Houston Rockets G 6-1 185
Jordan
Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers G 6-5 194
DeMarcus
Cousins, Sacramento Kings C 6-11 270
Anthony
Davis, New Orleans Pelicans F 6-10 253
Draymond
Green, Golden State Warriors F 6-7 230
CJ
McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers G 6-4 200
Isaiah
Thomas, Boston Celtics G 5-9 185
Karl-Anthony
Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves C 7-0 244
TACO BELL® SKILLS CHALLENGE WINNERS
2003 – Jason Kidd, New Jersey
2004 – Baron Davis, New Orleans
2005 – Steve Nash, Phoenix
2006 – Dwyane Wade, Miami
2007 – Dwyane Wade, Miami
2008 – Deron Williams, Utah
2009 – Derrick Rose, Chicago
2010 – Steve Nash, Phoenix
2011 – Stephen Curry, Golden State
2012 – Tony Parker, San Antonio
2013 – Damian Lillard, Portland
2014 – Trey Burke, Utah and Damian
Lillard, Portland
2015 – Patrick Beverley, Houston
Rockets