NBA All-Star 2024: Why Kevin Durant Has Never Competed in the Slam Dunk Contest?

The NBA All-Star weekend has always been a major platform for athletes to show their talents in a specific area of the game. Various marquee events such as the Slam Dunk Contest have often given birth to several household names like Vince Carter and Dwight Howard in the 2000s and Zach Lavine and Andrew Gordon in the 2010.

Even Michael Jordan himself debuted the ‘Air Jordan’ version of himself in front of a national audience in 1988 with his trademark dunk from the free throw line. Since 1976 the Slam Dunk contest has been one of the All-Star weekend’s main attractions. So, why hasn’t 7-footer Kevin Durant participated in it?

KD himself explained it in an interview almost 15 years ago while he was still in  Oklahoma City Thunder. There was a lot of hype surrounding his participation back in 2009, especially considering it was the year when Nate Robinson and DeMar DeRozan participated. However, the Slim Reaper thought “I don’t jump high enough for those guys,” and emphasized being a “regular dunker.”

Durant at the time thought guys like “Shannon Brown, LeBron [James], Rudy Gay, Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson, they’re like all the way at the top of the mountain. I’m all the way at the bottom, trying to climb my way up.” Despite it being “hard” for him to turn down the dunk competition he was of the opinion that “other guys are more worthy than me. I’ll be happy to watch.”

Since then KD won a regular season MVP, two championships, and two Finals MVPs, along the way racking up 14 All-Star appearances. Even this year he was selected as a starter in the Western Conference .

Kevin Durant and history at the All Star Weekend

In his 14 All-Star appearances, Durant has had many exceptional performances, winning two All-Star Game MVP’s in 2012 and 2019. In both instances he dropped more than 30 points with insane efficiency. However, his most impressive performance statistically came in 2014, when the Slim Reaper had 38 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and a mindboggling 51% from the field.

Read More: Were LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry Teammates in an NBA All-Star Game?

Durant has averaged 25.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 10 All-Star Games in his career. He missed out on four games due to injury and other concerns.

This year the NBA fans will get a chance to witness the three greatest players of the modern era play under the same Conference. Although this year with the team captains drafting again, will we see KD, Steph and Born play for the same team?

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