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Want to know how silly NBA All-Star Weekend can be?

Before we get into the (more) serious stuff, let’s start with dessert. The NBA’s signature event is a no-holds-barred opportunity to ask the league’s biggest stars some truly unhinged questions during their media availability Saturday ahead of Sunday’s game. 

Questions that would typically be considered shockingly inappropriate in any other context are fair game in this milieu. Here are some of the most chuckle-worthy things that came out of Saturday.

Anthony Edwards, who oozes charm and seemingly loved the odd-ball questions more than the basketball-related ones, was asked about a popular Instagram account (@nbaresdev) ranking him as the seventh hottest player of all time. 

His response?

“My mom and daddy did a pretty good job, but my old lady ain’t going to like that, though,” Edwards said. “She want me to suppress it. I be trying to hide it and be ugly for these folks. But they ain’t wrong, though. They probably got me a little low on that list, honestly.”

Edwards was also asked which All-Star he wouldn’t want his sister to date. 

“I’m going to go with JB,” he said of Boston’s Jaylen Brown. “He is from the city (Marietta, Georgia). He can’t date my sister.”

Then there was Kevin Durant, who was asked if he had to either give up X (formerly called Twitter) or video games, which one he’d choose. Durant, of course, is infamous for trolling his detractors on the social media app. 

“I’m going to go Twitter because they don’t deserve to hear this God-level talk I’m giving to them,” Durant said. 

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Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic was asked whether he’d rather win the MVP Award every year or have his horses win their races.

He picked his horses. 

Another highlight was when Luka Doncic was asked in front of Boban Marjanovic if the center was his favorite teammate. 

“Definitely not,” he said of Marjanovic, whom he played alongside on the Mavericks from 2019-2022.

Now that we’ve had our foray into the silly, here’s more relevant news. 

Victor Wembanyama said he wants to make the All-Star Game more competitive by making “exclamation-point plays, playing in a solid manner and sharing the ball with energy.”

Other NBA stars weren’t on the same page, including Edwards who balked at the idea that the U.S. versus World format could duplicate the intensity of the Olympic Games. “No,” he said. 

Durant, similarly, made it clear that he thought the intensity of Sunday’s game didn’t matter much. 

“I just feel like fans and media need something to complain about,” he said. “And the All-Star Game don’t make them feel like they felt when they were kids.”

Meanwhile, Brown made it clear that he’s in favor of a 1-on-1 competition to increase interest in the weekend. 

“Luka, Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), (Jalen) Brunson, Donovan (Mitchell) — I would challenge all them guys, 1-on-1,” Brown said. “We could donate to whatever charity. Let’s set it up.”

As for Doncic, who has missed the Lakers’ last four games because of a hamstring injury, he intends to “play a little bit” on Sunday. He said he feels “pretty good,” though he added, “No, I will not try to dunk on LeBron.”

On the subject of James, who’s the only All-Star holding a news conference Sunday, Edwards acknowledged that whenever the superstar decides to retire, he “might cry a little bit.”

Wembanyama doesn’t think he’ll tear up when James hangs up his jersey, but the future face of the league said he’d love to pick the brain of the guy who’s held that title for the last two decades. 

“I’ve never had the chance to spend time with him, to have full discussion, but I would love to,” Wembanyama said. “I don’t know how many millions of basketball players are on Earth, and all of them can learn something from LeBron.”

Meanwhile, when Edwards was asked if his interest has increased in becoming the eventual face of the league, he didn’t hesitate. 

“Man, them folks got Wembanyama,” he said. “They got Wembanyama. They’ll be all right.”

Welcome to February Daily Topics at Golden State of Mind. A question (almost) every day this month to give the community a prompt to talk about!

There’s no denying it: the NBA All-Star Game isn’t quite what it used to be. Decades ago, it was a true showcase of the best basketball talent in the world, with players taking the game as seriously as a late regular-season game with playoff implications.

Now, things have changed, and the All-Star Game — while still packed with talent — resembles a serious, competitive basketball game about as much as the NBA Street franchise does. Sure, it’s not exactly Shadeur Sanders playing flag football on the seriousness scale, but it’s not what so many of us grew up watching, either.

So how would you propose fixing the game, and the weekend (the three-point contest isn’t what it once was, either, and the slam dunk contest has fallen all the way off)?

The bigger question might be: is it even fixable at all? There’s a lot fighting against making the game competitive. The schedule is more demanding than it used to be, so players are more eager to find time to rest. Players are pushing their bodies to the limit like never before, with injuries at a high; that, combined with a better understanding of medicine and science than we used to have, means players are far less willing to put their body on the line for a game that is ultimately meaningless. And players have grown so accustomed to the game being an uncompetitive dunking exhibition, that there’s no incentive to start playing differently.

So it might not be fixable. If I were in charge, though, I’d still make a change: just go back to how it used to be. It may not be as good as it once was, but it’s not broken, either. We don’t need the shenanigans of elam endings and Team USA vs. Team World and a never-ending carousel of changing rules and concepts. Just let the 12 best players from the Western Conference play the 12 best players from the Eastern Conference, and let the players hopefully cycle back to feeling competitive about the game at some point.

As for the dunk contest? That might be broken for good, in part because it’s nearly reached the limit of what the human body is capable of, and now it’s hard to stand out. It could use more star power, though, so if I were the commissioner, I’d negotiate in the next CBA to try to get the players association to commit to two All-Stars in the contest every year (though that’s obviously a very low priority).

What are your All-Star fixes?

Boston Celtics two-way player Ron Harper Jr. appeared twice in the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities, but fell short of leaving a mark on either competition.

The 25-year-old participated in the Castrol Rising Stars mini-tournament on Friday and the Kia Shooting Stars competition on Saturday.

Harper Jr. started at shooting guard for Team Austin in the first game of the three-game mini-tournament, across from his brother, San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper, who started at forward for Team Melo.

While Ron Harper Jr. logged the second-most minutes of any player on Team Austin, he finished the game as its only scoreless player.

The G League star shot 0-5 from the field and 0-2 from three point range, and spent the majority of his time on the offensive end uninvolved and standing in the corner without the ball.

Both three point attempts were particularly rough. One came early in the game, when Harper Jr. dribbled into a shot and got blocked. The other attempt came on the second-to-last play of the game, when he took a shot several feet behind the perimeter with plenty of time left on the shot clock… and missed everything.

Dylan Harper got the ball on the next possession, took it at his brother, made him dance with a couple moves, and sunk the game-winning shot.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t all negative for Harper Jr. While his stat line was not glamorous, he did a lot of the unsung dirty work for Team Austin.

He posted a team-high 7 rebounds, including 3 offensive boards, and 2 assists, displaying excellent effort while battling in the trenches. He got a good tip that led to another rebound he was uncredited for, recovered a ball lost by one of his teammates, and got the game started by assisting on an alley-oop dunk.

Since Team Austin lost the game, it did not advance in the mini-tournament and Harper Jr. did not get another chance to shine.

During the Kia Shooting Stars competition, Harper Jr. and his team — which consisted of himself, his brother, Dylan, and his father, Ron Harper Sr., as well as celebrity passer 2 Chainz — also failed to progress past the first round.

The competition had four teams of three players shoot from seven spots, from a layup to an elbow jumper to a deep three-point shot from the logo, in an attempt to rack up as many points as possible over 70 seconds.

Team Harper finished the first round in third place, with 18 total points. Ron Jr. hit 3 of his 9 shots for 7 points, while his brother and father finished with 9 and 2 points, respectively.

They were in second place following their performance, but Team Knicks — the eventual winner — came next and immediately unseated Team Cameron for the top spot in the competition, pushing Team Harper to third.

Only the top 2 teams made the final round, so Team Harper was left behind and Harper Jr.’s participation in All-Star Weekend came to an end.

The Celtics’ next participant in the festivities will be Jaylen Brown, who will start for Team USA Stripes in tomorrow’s All-Star Game, which will feature a four-game tournament between two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players.

Team USA Stripes will play in games 2 and 3, which are slated to begin at 5:55 p.m. and 6:25 p.m. EST. The two teams with the best records will advance to an All-Star Championship game at 7:10 p.m. EST. The games can be viewed on NBC or streamed on Peacock.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Top-seeded Taylor Fritz beat Marin Cilic in straight sets and No. 2 Ben Shelton rallied past defending champion Denis Shapovalov on Saturday night, setting up a Dallas Open final between the world's highest-ranked Americans.

Fritz had 22 aces in his 7-6(5), 7-6(3) victory, while Shelton sparked his game with a scintillating crosscourt forehand winner while facing three break points early in the second set and going on to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win.

The 28-year-old Fritz is ranked seventh in the world, two spots ahead of Shelton, who is coming off an Australian Open quarterfinal appearance that ended with a loss to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

Fritz, a 10-time ATP Tour champion, and Shelton split their first two meetings. Shelton has three tour titles.

“Are you guys telling me that's the final you want to see?” Shelton asked, prompting cheers from fans at the indoor football stadium that is also the practice field of the Dallas Cowboys at club headquarters. “I'm super-excited for that matchup.”

Shelton came back from a set down for the second consecutive match, after beating Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals.

The 23-year-old was down a set and facing three break points at 1-1 in the second when the crosscourt winner got him going. He later had two set points on the seventh-seeded Shapovalov's serve, and converted the second to force the deciding set.

Shelton won three of the last four points in the tiebreaker, clinching the victory with another forehand winner.

Fritz had three set points in the first tiebreaker and three match points in the second against the unseeded Cilic.

The 2024 U.S. Open finalist closed out the first with his third consecutive ace after Cilic saved two set points.

One of Cilic's eight double faults — Fritz didn't have any — gave Fritz an early opening in the second tiebreaker. Fritz won his first match point when the 2014 U.S. Open champion's service return went long.

The 37-year-old Cilic used his powerful serve to escape several tough spots in a match with 38 aces. Cilic, who was seeking his 600th career singles victory, saved all five break points against him, while Fritz didn't face any in his third victory in four meetings with Cilic.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

The bass thumped, the lights dimmed and Hollywood did what Hollywood does best: It oversold the moment.

At the brand-new Intuit Dome on Saturday night, the NBA Slam Dunk Contest opened like a blockbuster premiere. Each participant received a custom movie trailer introduction, complete with dramatic narration and slow-motion highlights.

Then came the dunks.

The four contestants — Carter Bryant of the Spurs, Jaxson Hayes of the Lakers, Keshad Johnson of the Heat and Jase Richardson of the Magic — each had two attempts in the first round. The top two would advance to the finals. Five judges sat courtside like royalty: Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Dwight Howard, Corey Maggette and Brent Barry — men who once treated rims like their own personal property.

The highlight of the first round belonged to Johnson. And it wasn’t even close.

The Heat forward walked out dancing alongside Bay Area legend E-40 to “Tell Me When to Go,” a cultural anthem that turned the Dome into a West Coast block party.

Keshad Johnson’s swag was on a MILLION as a he walked out and dunked on E-40 in his first @att Slam Dunk! @SFSkyforce | @MiamiHEATpic.twitter.com/kHBjOXpn8b

— NBA G League (@nbagleague) February 15, 2026

Then Johnson did exactly that — he told us when to go. He leapt over E-40, cleared him cleanly, smiled midair like he was posing for a magazine cover and hammered it home with authority. It was swagger. It was theater. It was what this contest is supposed to be.

The building erupted.

Keshad Johnson over E-40 at @ATT Slam Dunk

Tap to watch: https://t.co/BpnjnxQ8vCpic.twitter.com/zGQfU8kDdR

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

Then came the local favorite: Hayes, who plays center for the Lakers.

Playing in front of family and friends in his adopted city, Hayes promised excitement. 

“I’m just excited. My whole family is here, and I’m excited to put on a show,” he said beforehand. He had studied old contests on YouTube, scrolled Instagram for ideas, searching for that one dunk that “gets people going.”

His first attempt didn’t.

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Hayes took off from just inside the free-throw line and finished with a one-handed slam. The judges awarded it a 44.6 — the lowest score of the first round. In a building that had just witnessed Johnson turn a dunk into a music video, Hayes’ attempt felt like a warm-up layup line drill.

Los Angeles is unforgiving when it’s underwhelmed. The murmurs were immediate.

His second dunk showed more imagination. Hayes tossed the ball to himself, caught it off the bounce, went between the legs and flushed it. It took several attempts — momentum bleeding out with each miss — but when he finally completed it, the score reflected the improvement: 47.2. His 91.8 total was enough to avoid immediate elimination, but he missed the finals by a point.

Jaxson Hayes taps it to himself & goes between the legs for his second slam in @ATT Slam Dunk

Tap to watch: https://t.co/BpnjnxQ8vCpic.twitter.com/pBALENoNJ0

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

Hayes had joked earlier that if he could dunk on anyone, it would be “LeBron.” Saturday night, he couldn’t even dunk over the moment. 

In a city that breathes basketball mythology, Saturday felt like a missed opportunity for the Lakers’ sixth Slam Dunk Contest participant.

The finals belonged to Bryant and Johnson, and the contrast was electric versus surgical. Johnson brought the showmanship. Bryant brought the hammer.

On his first dunk of the finals, Bryant rose, went between the legs with violent precision and detonated the rim. The judges flashed perfect 50s across the board. 

CARTER BRYANT WITH A 50

He needs a 47.5 on his final attempt to win @ATT Slam Dunk!

Tap to watch: https://t.co/Cc3TznvNLrpic.twitter.com/YMeqAi2whh

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

But when the moment mattered the most, Bryant faltered. Needing just 47 points to win the contest, Bryant couldn’t finish any of his attempts on his final dunk. With the clock winding down, Bryant ditched his between-the-legs, off the backboard, reverse dunk and settled for a simple 360 instead. The judges didn’t buy it, and Bryant had blown his chance to be crowned champion.

When the dust settled, it was the Johnson, the Heat forward, who stood alone as the champion, having delivered the most entertaining dunk of the night. In doing so, he proved that consistency, patience and theatrics were all that was needed to follow in the footsteps of legendary past winners like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter. 

RUNNING WINDMILL JAM FOR THE WIN!

Keshad Johnson is your 2026 @ATT Slam Dunk Champion pic.twitter.com/jAhyHzesvr

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

“I give all the glory to God,” Johnson, a native of Oakland, said after the contest. “Always believe in yourself.”

The NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest remains a strange beast — equal parts nostalgia and innovation, judged by men who once defined it. Saturday night proved something important: Creativity wins the crowd, but execution wins the crown.

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Josh Hubbard scored 32 points, Achor Achor scored 18, and Mississippi State ended a three-game skid by beating Ole Miss 90-78 on Saturday.

Hubbard finished 12-of-16 shooting and Achor went 6 of 8. Jayden Epps added 12 points for Mississippi State (12-13 4-8 SEC). The Bulldogs shot 57% (33 of 58).

Malik Dia tied a career-high with 32 points and reserve AJ Storr scored 21 for Ole Miss (11-14, 3-9). When he was at Bellarmine, Dia scored 32 points on Jan. 7, 2024 when the Bruins beat Drake 87-65.

The Rebels now have dropped seven straight. Mississippi State entered having lost eight of nine.

Mississippi State built a 13-3 lead and never trailed. Travis Perry made a 3-pointer with 8:13 before halftime and AJ Storr followed with a layup 30 seconds later to bring the Rebels within 24-21.

The Bulldogs countered when Jamarion Davis-Fleming threw down a dunk, Epps made a pair of foul shots and Hubbard made a 3 to stretch the margin to 10.

Storr made a layup and Dia's jump shot reduced the Ole Miss deficit to 31-26 with 4:20 remaining before halftime. Mississippi State used a 16-2 run to close the half with a 47-28 lead.

The Bulldogs led by double digits the entire second half.

Up next

Mississippi State: Hosts Auburn on Wednesday.

Ole Miss: Travels to face Texas A&M on Wednesday.

___

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke Saturday during All-Star Weekend about the league’s hot-button issues, including tanking, the lottery, expansion and the league’s pending investigation into whether the Clippers arranged a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal for Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the salary cap. 

When it comes to tanking, Silver, who fined the Jazz $500,000 and the Pacers $100,000 on Thursday for recently sitting star players in games, said he believes the problem is becoming increasingly pervasive. 

“We’ve got to look at some fresh thinking here,” Silver said. “What we’re doing, what we’re seeing right now is not working. There’s no question about it. Yes, is there more I can do? Have I attempted not only to respond to behavior we’ve seen but send a clear message that we’re going to be scrutinizing everything we see going forward? Absolutely.”

Silver added that the NBA Competition Committee began earlier this season “reexamining the whole approach to how the draft lottery works.” When asked if there have been discussions about taking draft picks away from teams that tank instead of fining them, he didn’t hesitate.  

“There is talk about every possible remedy now to stop this behavior.” Silver said.

As for expansion, when Silver was asked if reports were true about Seattle and Las Vegas being front-runners to secure new NBA franchises, Silver cautioned that nothing has been decided. 

“We will make decisions in 2026,” he said. “I think in fairness to the cities, Seattle and Las Vegas in particular, I’ve been very clear, I don’t want to tease teams. I don’t want to tease cities or mislead anyone. I think we wanted to get through collective bargaining, national television deals. We’ve done that, and now we’ve turned to it as a league.

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“My sense is at the March Board of Governors meetings we’ll be having further discussions around an expansion process. We won’t be voting at the March meeting, but we will likely come out of those meetings ready, prepared to take a next step in terms of potentially talking to interested parties.”

Silver also made it clear that the league isn’t necessarily looking to add two teams specifically, clarifying that an expansion “doesn’t have to be any number of teams.”

Meanwhile, the elephant in the room of All-Star Weekend is that while Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is showing off his $2 billion arena (Intuit Dome) that’s hosting the events, he and his team are being investigated regarding allegations that they circumvented the salary cap to retain Leonard by helping secure him a $28 million endorsement deal with the company Aspiration.

Ballmer and the Clippers have staunchly denied those allegations. And the NBA hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate the matter. 

“I haven’t come to any decisions whatsoever yet on the Clippers matter,” Silver said. “… From everything I’ve been told, the Clippers have been fully cooperative. But as I said, I’m not involved day to day in the investigation.”

Silver added that the situation is “enormously complex.”

“You have a company in bankruptcy (Aspiration),” Silver said. “You have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have been needed to be interviewed.

“I will say, just in case anyone is wondering, the fact that All-Star is here this weekend has had no impact on the timeline of the investigation. Our charge to the Wachtell law firm is do the work and then come back and make recommendations to the league office, and that’s where things now stand.”

When Silver was asked to what extent he’s beholden to the CBA and the NBA’s Constitution in regard to any punishment that would be handed out for a salary cap circumvention, he was definitive. 

“I am completely beholden to the constitution and the CBA,” he said. “I believe in the rule of law. I have broad powers in certain areas, but those are broad powers that are granted to me by those very documents.”

Keshad Johnson won the 2026 NBA slam dunk contest at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Johnson, a second-year player for the Miami Heat, did enough with his two dunk attempts in the final round to beat out San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant.

Bryant produced a perfect score on his first dunk attempt of the final round, but couldn’t complete his initial dunk on his second attempt, which made the difference in the contest.

Johnson showed a level of confidence and showmanship with his dunks and dancing on the court as a representative of the Bay Area.

The 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was an exciting finale to NBA All-Star Saturday Night, held at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Feb. 14.

It was a dunk show featuring San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson, and Orlando Magic guard Jase Richardson.

A second-year forward out of Arizona, Johnson was crowned champion of the slam dunk Contest. An Oakland native, Johnson represented for the Bay Area from his introduction to every dunk, which was followed by a little dance.

"First and foremost, thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for allowing me to be here. Everybody's journey is different," Johnson said. "So all the kids out there, keep dreaming. Have crazy faith. Crazy faith, not just regular faith. Have crazy faith. Anything can happen."

Johnson danced his way to victory with showstopping dunks, showing an array of moves and love to California along the way.

"I just came out here and showed the people who Showtime was. We had all the legends out. I'm from California, brought my own Bay Area swag to L.A. We're all one. It's for the whole West Coast right here, baby," Johnson said. "In the Bay, we do it a little different, you know, we got our own little swag. So I had to bring the legend E-40 out, you know? And do my little thizz, do my little smeeze, put on, you know. And I'm also taking this back to the 305, in Miami too."

Johnson said it's a blessing to be in his shoes.

"I would just say like the blessing that God give me, it's abundant," he said. "They keep flooding, they keep flooding, and it's really beyond, beyond my comprehension. So that's why I just have to take a second and really thank Him. I'm speechless right now. It's the Lord. I give it all credit to the Lord, all glory to God."

Check out the highlights from the 2026 slam dunk contest, including all dunks and scores from the competition.

On a holiday celebrating love and affection, thousands of enthusiastic basketball fans showed up at Intuit Dome to cheer for their favorite NBA players in a trifecta of skills competitions on the eve of the league’s 75th annual All-Star Game.

Getting Saturday off to a scintillating start was the three-point contest — one of All-Star Weekend’s most coveted prizes since Larry Bird won the initial contest in 1986 as well as the next two.

Portland’s Damian Lillard joined Bird and Craig Hodges (1990-92) as the only three-time winners with a stunning exhibition in the final round, ending up with a score of 29 — two better than runner-up and 2018 champion Devin Booker of Phoenix. Lillard equaled the best final-round score, set by Karl-Anthony Towns in 2022.

“I came out here excited to do it,” said Lillard, a nine-time All-Star who is sitting out this season after surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon last April. “I can’t say I knew I’d win but I came in confident. This is my sixth time doing it … this felt like a game to me.”

Lillard went second in the finals and watched anxiously from the bench as it looked like Booker would overtake him before missing his last three shots from the corner.

“At the end I was at his mercy but it worked out,” said Lillard, who won with 26 points in 2023 and 2024. “I was once a fan too — as a kid I went to the All-Star Game in Oakland— and fans want to see their guys. That’s what made me want to be a part of it.”

Read more:Complete coverage: NBA All-Star Weekend 2026

In the first round, eight players had 70 seconds to shoot 27 balls from five designated spots on the court. Booker posted the highest score (30) and also making the finals with 27 points each were Lillard and Charlotte rookie Kon Knueppel. Donovan Mitchell (24), Norman Powell (23), Jamal Murray (18), Tyrese Maxey (17) and Bobby Portis Jr. (15) were eliminated.

Next up was the shooting stars competition, which returned to All-Star Weekend after a 10-year hiatus and featured four teams, each consisting of two current NBA players and one retired “legend.”

Jalen Brunson, Towns and Allan Houston led Team Knicks to a 47-38 triumph over Team Cameron, made up of Duke alums Jalen Johnson, Knueppel and Corey Maggette, a former Clipper.

“This was cool and the game’s become more and more international,” said Brunson, who got passes from his dad, Rick, a New York assistant coach. “Basketball is a universal language. Winning’s always fun, not just beating a team from Duke.”

In the semifinals, Team Knicks beat Team Harper (Dylan Harper of San Antonio, Ron Harper Jr. of Boston and their father, five-time NBA champion Ron Harper) while Team Cameron beat Team All-Star (Scottie Barnes of Toronto, Chet Holmgren of Oklahoma City and three-time All-Star Richard Hamilton).

Was it a case of the old guy carrying the young guys?

“He did his job,” Towns joked about Houston, who played for the Knicks from 1996 to 2005 and serves as general manager of their G League team.

Shooting stars was a regular feature from 2004 to 2015 and originally featured an NBA player, a WNBA player and a retired player on each team shooting from four locations. This year, each team had 70 seconds to score points by shooting from seven areas worth anywhere from two to four points.

Rounding out the Valentine’s Day festivities was the crowd-pleasing slam-dunk contest, showcasing the individuality and athleticism of its four first-time participants: Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, San Antonio forward Carter Bryant, Miami forward Keshad Johnson and Orlando rookie guard Jase Richardson.

Johnson, who measured a 42-inch vertical leap at the 2024 draft combine, ultimately raised the gold trophy following a final round total of 97.4. He made a side-to-side move at the rim on his penultimate attempt, then sprinted the length of the court and soared for a windmill jam on his last effort.

“Everyone make some noise,” the jubilant Johnson told the roomful of reporters afterward. “It’s a dream. I beat the odds. Every year I watched the dunk contest and I learned from all the people before me.” 

Bryant settled for second with 93 despite a perfect score of 50 after he bounced the ball off the floor, under his leg for a one-handed stuff that drew thunderous applause on his first try before making a less-difficult 360-degree shot with time running out on his second attempt.

“I really wanted him to finish that last one,” Johnson said. “Both of us are from U of A [Arizona], so we wanted to put on a show and we did.”  

In the opening round all four players attempted two dunks, receiving a score between 40 and 50 per try. Bryant (94.8) and Johnson (92.8) qualified for the final dunk-off, in which both got two more attempts.

“Dunking is an art and it’s kind of hard to come up with new stuff,” said Johnson, an Oakland native who leaped over Bay Area rapper E-40 on his first dunk. “My goal is to just be myself and put my own flavor in it.”

Spurred on by the hometown crowd, Hayes was third at 91.8 while Richardson, the son of two-time winner Jason Richardson, was last at 88.8.

Judging were former champions Nate Robinson, Dominique Wilkins, Brent Barry, former Lakers center Dwight Howard and fans on the NBA app.

Julius Irving won the first dunk contest in 1976, the year before the ABA-NBA merger. Robinson (2006, 2009, 2010) and Mac McClung are the only three-time winners. McClung, the previous champion and only player to win three years in a row, announced in January he would not defend his title.

That opened the door for a new winner in Johnson.

“Being undrafted and in the G League and being the underdogs at San Diego State… I’ve learned how to dream dreams,” said Johnson, who keyed the Aztecs' surprising run to the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 in 2023 before transferring to Arizona. “I’m so grateful to be here. I’m from Oakland, the West Coast is home to me and I felt like the fans were with me.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.