The Detroit Pistons will have some representation at the Slam Dunk Contest this year
This year, Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren is headed to the 2026 NBA All-Star Game, and he’s determined to make the most of his time at All-Star Weekend.
In recent years, many hoops fans have complained that the league’s mid-year celebration is quickly losing its luster as superstars turn down the chance to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest or the Three-Point Shootout. Even the All-Star Game itself has scaled down into a defense-optional series of iso sets that devolve into a scoring contest as opposed to a competitive game featuring the league’s greatest talent.
But this season, Duren plans on carrying the weight of the Slam Dunk Contest on his broad shoulders as the Pistons’ center has agreed to participate in the storied high-flying competition.
According to Shams Charania, Duren is slated to put his best foot forward with the basketball world tuning in as JD takes on the likes of Jaxson Hayes from the Lakers and Carter Bryant from the Spurs. Right now, Duren is the only All-Star signed on to participate in the rim-rattling challenge, but the final field has not been announced yet.
On the surface, Duren seems like a no-brainer to shine in a dunking-specific capacity. Over the past couple seasons, JD has turned into the most formidable lob threat in the NBA with his spring-loaded vertical leap, unspoken connection with Cade Cunningham and the athleticism to pull off alley-oops that wind up on Sportscenter.
For the fourth-year center, the Slam Dunk Contest was a staple of All-Star Weekend when he was growing up, but the primary criticism recently has been the lack of star involvement. Without the A-list marketability of the 1990s or 2000s, the Dunk Contest has fallen to the wayside lately, and even three-time winner Mac McClung declined the opportunity to participate this year.
Dial back the clock to 2008: Dwight Howard dons the Superman cape, smacks a sticker on the backboard and slams the basketball through the hoop so hard that the rim complained. Duren has a similar dunking catalog to that of Howard from a stylistic point of view, and they both know only one way to dunk– ferociously.
JD was only four years old when Howard won the Slam Dunk Contest many years ago, but the Pistons’ center will have an opportunity to write his own legacy at All-Star Weekend this year. Judging by his personality, Duren is not the type to let a special opportunity whither away, so expect for JD to relish the moment as he performs in front of the basketball world with the intention to etch his name into the history books as one of the top dunk artist in the league today.
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