Dallas Mavericks second-year guard Dennis Smith Jr. has no plans to redeem himself in this year's NBA Slam Dunk Contest, which will be held in Charlotte. The high-flying Mavs guard was asked by Tim MacMahon of ESPN whether he would be returning to this year's contest, and said this:
Dennis Smith Jr. “I’m not doing the dunk contest this year.” He adds that “the gimmicks and everything that go with it, I’m not with it.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) September 21, 2018
Smith participated in last year's dunk festivities held in Los Angeles, along with the likes of eventual winner and fellow rookie Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, Larry Nance Jr. of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers.
The 6-foot-3 guard was a favorite to come out on top, but failed to even reach the finals due to a low score on his first dunk, on which he scored a 39. He did, however, garner a perfect 50 on his second dunk, which was a reverse-360 between-the-legs, while finishing with the opposite hand. His two entries can be seen below:
While athleticism and high-flying ability is certainly needed in the dunk contest, creativity and showmanship have become the major factors that judges look into.
Smith, apparently, is not a fan of the extra antics and shenanigans that go along with the dunk contest. Needless to say, he looks to be content on showing off his crazy athleticism in actual games.
He sure did show off that he has somehow added more bounce to his already crazy hops this summer in a highlight mixtape of a private NBA open run that was released just a month ago:
The second-year man out of North Carolina State is looking to build on his solid rookie campaign, which landed him a spot on the All-Rookie second team. Smith averaged 15.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 69 games in his rookie year.
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