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"FacebookPinterestGetty Images\n\nThe dunk contest is bound to disappoint. Vince Carter effectively dismembered competitive dunking in 2000; since then, as Blake Griffin and JaVale McGee proved last year, the only way forward is to further distance these routines from anything resembling basketball reality. It's theatrical production as much as an athletic feat, with \"selling\" the dunk having taken on such a heightened significance that it often preempts the act itself.\n\nHype conquers all. There are leaked previews, in print or even video; on Saturday, prop preparation leaves you wondering \"what exactly is he going to do?\" At one, desperate point in time, back when they announced the participants last week, it looked like the main selling point of the Sprite Slam Dunk (that is actually the name, but don't worry, it's still a contest) would be the involvement of Jeremy Lin. Not as a contestant, mind you; Lin would be assisting teammate Iman Shumpert, which could mean anything from throwing a precise lob to being leapt over respectfully.\n\nThis compromise seemed as unacceptable as skipping the first two hours of the Oscars to watch the tail end of Sunday's game, which by my calculations, the NBA expects us to do. Thankfully, the league found a way to place Lin into the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, and we were spared this awkward, and pointless, bit of shoehorning.\n\nBut Lin's presence would have distracted from a field that, perhaps because of the hectic pace of this season, seems to have been thrown together without any real chance for anticipation to build. It's refreshing, in a way. Paul George, Derrick Williams, Jeremy Evans, and Chase Budinger are just some dudes dunking. They wouldn't be on anyone's wish list for this event, and only George has anything resembling star power. At the same, there's no clear favorite, and none of the four can be written off. Maybe there's some fight in the dunk contest, after all.\n\nPaul George\n\n\n\nIf 2011-12 were bothering to pause so we could take stock of what's happening, there might be some buzz about the Pacers swingman here. He's got the kind of length that can allow him to extend for dramatic effect, without being hampered by the curse of the big man. Also, George stalks the floor like a guard, making for combination of force and agility that's hard to match. If this description sounds a bit much like a wine tasting menu, I apologize.\n\nDerrick Williams\n\n\n\nPerhaps best known as Ricky Rubio's favorite alley-oops target, the Timberwolves rookie is pure power. What makes him intriguing, though, is that he's still small enough to make it look good, even maneuver a little in the air. Like a miniature Amar'e Stoudemire, Williams probably isn't going to come with much in the way of tricks. But don't underestimate how much aesthetic damage Williams can do with one well-timed hammer. It's like a hand grenade chucked at the basket, with enough room for us watching to realize what's about to go horribly wrong. In any other year, Williams might be overlooked because he's not so fancy. Let's consider this a back-to-basics dunk contest. There's nothing more meat-and-potatoes than this dude.\n\nChase Budinger\n\n\n\nGo ahead, get out your worst white boy taunt. Budinger has been on the radar of dunk cognoscenti since 2006, when he was the runner-up in the McDonald's game contest. The former volleyball player is an athlete, in the classic sense; there's an upright posture, a formality to him that's very track and field. You get the sense that Budinger didn't just learn how to jump by trying to Be Like Mike. A novelty act for his skin color, Budinger has to ecute and be nasty about it. Plus he looks like an bleached-out Gumby. Imagine the merch!\n\nJeremy Evans\n\n\n\nAdded too late to have his own official Sprite/NBA mix (Update: He now has one on NBA.com, but it didn't make it to YouTube), the Utah Jazz forward just plain gets up, sometimes so quickly that it doesn't seem like he's touched the ground. He jumps, high, and sends the ball slicing straight through the hoop, and might be better suited to Friday night's festivities. If Williams is a bruising classic, Evans is an incendiary raw material.\n\nI'm going with George, in part because players with two first names are always awesome. But he's the one going places, and the Sprite Slam Dunk could do far worse than to end up a showcase for the man who will likely come in third for Most Improved Player."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/all-star-weekend-preview-the-dunk-contest>