We’re less than one month away from 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend. The All-Star game rosters will be set by the end of January, and there are more invites to go around as the league’s best convene in San Francisco from Feb. 14-16. The Slam Dunk Contest is set to headline NBA All-Star Saturday Night on Feb. 15, and we have a good idea of what the field will look like.
Three players — Spurs rookie Stephon Castle, Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis and Bucks guard Andre Jackson Jr. — have committed to the 2025 Dunk Contest, per ESPN. The last spot could be filled by Mac McClung, the two-time reigning Dunk Contest winner. McClung is currently playing for the Magic’s G League team, and he told the Orlando Sentinel he’s undecided on entering the Dunk Contest for a third year in a row.
“I’m still thinking on it, praying on it to see if it’s the right time and the right thing,” McClung said on Jan. 22. “I’m really just trying to get some wins lined up right now and then kind of focus on that in a couple days.”
No player has ever won the Dunk Contest three years in a row, so McClung would be chasing a history-making three-peat if he enters the contest at the Chase Center.
Castle, meanwhile, was the first reported player to enter the 2025 Dunk Contest field, and he will be the first Spurs player to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest since Greg “Cadillac” Anderson in 1988. Castle, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, has already thrown down a number of highlight-reel slams. Perhaps most notably, he put two-time All-Defensive center Brook Lopez on a poster during the Spurs’ loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 8. In addition, Castle has soared for some impressive alley-oops, thrown down a windmill and converted some thrilling dunks in traffic.
His ability to elevate quickly off one or two feet and add power to his dunks has already made him one of the more exciting in-game dunkers. All of those traits should serve him well at All-Star Weekend. Castle’s 25 dunks this season are the most by any point guard, per Basketball-Reference.
Castle is off to a solid start in his rookie season. Through 40 games, he’s averaging 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Among all rookies he is fourth in scoring and third in assists as his play has helped the Spurs stay in the mix for the playoffs. The Spurs have not made the postseason since 2019.
Buzelis hasn’t had as a big of a role with the Bulls as Castle in San Antonio, but he has shown his explosive finishing ability while averaging just under 13 minutes per game. There is always potential for a highlight reel play whenever the 6-foot-10 Buzelis is on the court. The No. 11 overall pick in the 2024 Draft is averaging 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game and will be the first Bulls player to take part in the Dunk Contest since Tyrus Thomas in 2007.
Jackson Jr. is a second-year player from UConn. He’s averaged 3.6 points per game for the Bucks in 17.3 minutes per game, and there’s no questioning his hops.
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