Slam Dunk Contest 2012: Paul George, Derrick Williams Among Contestants (VIDEOS)

Blake Griffin will apparently not be defending his Slam Dunk Contest title. According to ESPN's Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon, the four contestants at the 2012 Slam Dunk Contest will be New York's Iman Shumpert, Houston's Chase Budinger, Indiana's Paul George and Minnesota's Derrick Williams.

Per the report, overnight sensation Jeremy Lin will also be involved, likely assisting his Knicks teammate Shumpert just as Baron Davis helped out Griffin last year (or Allen Iverson helping Andre Iguodala and Steve Nash helping Amar'e Stoudemire).

Aside from revealing that Griffin will not be participating in the dunk contest, this report also makes plain that LeBron James won't either, again. The two-time MVP and one of the most powerful in-game dunkers in the NBA said earlier in February that he was considering entering the contest this year. But he also said he would "be on the fence every year about it."

So with the lineup not including the defending champion or any of the most popular dunking phenoms in the league, will you watch this year's dunk contest? Here are some highlights from each contestant to help you make your decision.

UPDATE: Due to injury, Utah's Jeremy Evans will replace New York's Iman Shumpert in the slam dunk contest.

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Comments

[phat water]

03:18 PM on 05/24/2012

do u know i love u kiss me right now
1502 28th street come get it
u hot chocolate sexy piece of good thing aaahhh

[phat water]

03:15 PM on 05/24/2012

heyy...paul george is sooooooo fine!!!!! I love him

[Alexangel Delerme]

10:20 PM on 04/26/2012

I'm 5'10", 185 and i've always been able to touch the rim but not dunk. I never thought i'd be able to, I thought that was for the 6' plus crowd. That was until I came across the Jump Manual, now i'm above the rim.
http://thejumpmanuals.blogspot.com/

[jlin17]

09:58 PM on 03/08/2012

You call that a Dunk Contest? HAHAHAHA

[George Lastname]

07:58 PM on 02/25/2012

Every single year people say, "Oh it's not like it used to be. There are no stars anymore." That's completely stupid. Remember when Harold Miner won it in the 90's? Well that stuff happened a lot. Non-stars have always had a huge part of the contest, even in the beginning. First contest was won by Kenny Walker. Another famous one had Spudd Webb winning. Are those guys superstars? No, it's selective memory, revisionist history. A lot of those contests with the big stars only look better in retrospect because they got better years later. We could remember this contest as the Paul George coming out party, and he could be an all-star even next year. The contest is best when the dunks are great, not just throwing stars out there. I looked at every contest and the star power in each one, and there wasn't a big difference between this era and the last:
http://ascreamingcomesacrossthecourt.blogspot.com/2012/02/history-of-modern-dunk-contest-and.html

[George Lastname]

07:54 PM on 02/25/2012

History of the post Vince Carter era dunk contest here:

http://ascreamingcomesacrossthecourt.blogspot.com/2012/02/history-of-modern-dunk-contest-and.html

[keith w oliver]

05:44 PM on 02/19/2012

could this competition possibly be any less relevant than this?

if they can come out and wow people then it could turn interesting,
but i have no idea how anyone could get excited about these participants

[beverlyamy1]

01:55 PM on 02/17/2012

booooriiing.

[FreeSwingingSoul]

12:52 PM on 02/17/2012

The big star players are too afraid to do the dunk contest anymore. And the NBA All-Star weekend sufferes for it. Does the NBA really want to continue to offer up no-names for the contest during what's supposed to be "All-Star Weekend"? Until All-Stars decide to compete in the dunk contest again, they should drop the dunk competition from "All-Star Weekend."

[RGEEZY]

04:01 AM on 02/17/2012

What a pathetic field, Chase Buddinger? REALLY? OMG I'd be pissed if i paid for tickets

[hottingers]

07:54 PM on 02/16/2012

When it first started it was great because dunking wasn't that big a part of the game. For years they cameout with interesting dunks and had wonderful personalities. Now it's just who can throw it down the hardest and like Blake Griffin it's some player's entire game.

[Sad But True]

06:56 PM on 02/16/2012

Paul George, FTW.

[dwill123]

06:42 PM on 02/16/2012

Watching the Slam Dunk Competitio­n is like watching paint dry.

[MChile124]

03:05 PM on 02/16/2012

I'll watch...begrudgingly. Last year didn't feature stars either, but they were a bunch of very good dunkers. These guys are above average at best. Instead of giving bonuses to athletes who participate, why don't we fine big names who refuse? Lebron could afford the penalty for sure, but it would give more reason to do it. Lebron, Griffin, Durant, Iguodala, McGee, Gay, even Marcus Thornton or Corey Brewer are all guys who should be in this. Isn't All-Star Weekend really about fan appreciation? Put on a show for them? These guys ought to be throwing down, the dunk title should be something to aspire to, not a condemnation for rookies.

[mrross019]

02:32 PM on 02/16/2012

In my opinion the big name stars should be forced to participate in the Dunk Competition..Gone are the days of star vs star..Nowwe get Rookies and no names in the Dunk Contests most years.