Poythress Selected to NBA D-League Slam Dunk Contest
February 9, 2017 - NBA G League (G League)
Indiana Mad Ants News Release
Fort Wayne, Ind.- The NBA Development League announced Thursday that Alex Poythress has been selected to participate in the 2017 NBA D-League Slam Dunk Contest presented by Verizon on Saturday, February 18 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Poythress has played in 28 games for Fort Wayne this season, where he is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks over 30.7 minutes per game.
2017 NBA D-League All-Star Poythress will be joined by 2016 Slam Dunk Champion John Jordan (Raptors 905), Troy Williams (Iowa Energy), Derek Cooke Jr. (Northern Arizona Suns), Alfonzo McKinnie (Windy City Bulls) and Trahson Burrell (Long Island Nets).
The two-round contest will tip off during NBA All-Star Practice and culminate during halftime of the 2017 NBA D-League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire, which begins at 2:30 p.m. ET. The first round will be streamed live on the NBA D-League's Facebook page, beginning with the Slam Dunk preliminary at 12:30 p.m. ET. The final round of both the Slam Dunk will air live on NBA TV during halftime of the NBA D-League All-Star Game.
The NBA D-League Slam Dunk presented by Verizon has all four competitors completing two dunks in the first round, with each judge awarding six to 10 points for each dunk. Dunkers will have 60 seconds to complete each dunk. The two players with the highest composite scores after the first-round move on to the second round, where the time limits and scoring system remain the same. The player with the highest composite score for his two dunks in the final round is crowned the 2017 NBA D-League Slam Dunk champion.
The first round of the dunk competition will be judged by NBA players Marquese Chriss (Phoenix Suns), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) and Frank Kaminsky (Charlotte Hornets) as well as Melas and Skeets.
NBA players Langston Galloway (New Orleans Pelicans), Tim Frazier (Pelicans) and Jonathon Simmons (San Antonio Spurs), all of whom have played in the NBA D-League. Along with Tas Melas and J.E. Skeets, hosts of NBA TV's The Starters, will judge the final round of NBA D-League Slam Dunk presented by Verizon.
NBA D-League Slam Dunk presented by Verizon :
Player (Team) Ht. Wt. College Birthdate
Alex Poythress (Fort Wayne) 6-7 235 Kentucky 9/6/1993
John Jordan (Raptors 905) 5-10 180 Texas A&M 10/7/1992
Troy Williams (Iowa) 6-5 218 Indiana 12/30/1994
Derek Cooke Jr. (Northern Arizona) 6-9 220 Wyoming 8/23/1991
Alfonzo McKinnie (Windy City) 6-8 215 Wisc-Green Bay 9/17/1992
Trahson Burrell (Long Island) 6-7 190 Memphis 11/16/1992
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