He’s the king of dunk
Mitchell wins Slam Dunk contest
LOS ANGELES: High-flying rookie Donovan Mitchell launched an aerial assault on the basket and Devin Booker showed off his silky smooth shooting skills at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game skills competition.
Mitchell had two perfect 50 scores over four dunks to edge runner-up Larry Nance Jr. and win the Slam Dunk contest which capped the two day festivities leading up to the 67th All-Star classic.
“Believe it or not I have been preparing for this since I was a kid,” Mitchell said. “Growing up I was a big dunker. I wasn’t really much of a basketball player.
“I just dunked and played defence and I watched a lot of Vince’s (Carter) videos.”
Mitchell needed at least a 47 point on his final dunk in the championship round to defeat Nance Jr of the Cleveland Cavaliers and he did it by earning a 48.
Mitchell is leading his Utah Jazz team in scoring and is one of the frontrunners to win the Rookie of the Year award this season. He leads all rookies by averaging 19.6 points per game.
Saturday’s events included some of the more talented players in the league competing for three separate titles, comprising the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest
It is part of the build up to Team LeBron and Team Curry taking the floor at Staples Centre arena which is hosting the All-Star Game for the third time.
Mitchell joined the dunk field after 2016 Slam Dunk runner-up Aaron Gordon was forced to withdraw from the contest due to injury.
Mitchell has scored at least 40 points in a game twice, becoming the first Jazz player with multiple 40-point games in his rookie season.