MINNEAPOLIS -- With near four-foot hops and otherworldly athleticism, Timberwolves rookie Zach LaVine already has given fans this.
And this.
As early as his introduction at the Minnesota State Fair in August, the high-flying guard pledged to strut his stuff at this year's NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Tuesday, it became official.
The league announced LaVine, drafted 13th overall by Minnesota this summer, will take part in the annual jam fest alongside Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Orlando's Victor Oladipo and Brooklyn's Mason Plumlee. The fourth event of All-Star Saturday Night begins at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the day before the annual NBA All-Star Game.
"To be selected for this year's Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend is very exciting," LaVine said in a press release. "It's been one of my dreams to compete in the All-Star slam dunk contest ever since I was a little kid. My plan is to give the judges and all NBA fans a great show."
As evidenced by the visuals above, it won't be the UCLA product's first dunk contest. But it will be his first at the NBA level with some of the game's best leapers.
LaVine, the sixth Wolves player to compete, has a good chance to win the whole thing. His vertical jump has been measured at 46 inches, and he's been working on an array of dunks this season with hopes of showing them off in New York.
Minnesota's Isaiah Rider won the 1994 Slam Dunk Contest at the Target Center with his famous "East Bay Funk Dunk" and also participated in 1995. Derrick Williams (2012), Gerald Green (2008), Chris Carr (1997) and Doug West (1992) also represented the Wolves at dunk contests in the past.
This year's event will return to its classic format -- two rounds where the four participants perform two dunks of their choice, with up to three, untimed chances on each dunk. Five judges will score every dunk and the top two scorers from the first round advance to a head-to-head final round with the same rules.
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