Chicago Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis is taking his talents to the Bay Area next month to compete in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
Buzelis is the second player reported to be competing in the dunk contest and will join San Antonio Spurs second-year guard Stephon Castle, according to a report from ESPN.
Dunking is a source of pride for Buzelis. A lengthy 6-foot-10 wing with a 38-inch vertical at the NBA combine last summer, the rookie needs little prompting to launch himself at the rim. Buzelis has already thrown down 18 dunks this season — the best, perhaps, a running one-handed hammer in transition against the Memphis Grizzlies back in November.
Buzelis kept most of those finishes fairly tame, focusing on putting the ball through the rim rather than showing off. But before games and after practices, Buzelis gives a hint of the tricks remaining in his arsenal — double clutches, windmills, 360-degree spins, East Bay dunks. And if given enough space, Buzelis is willing to push his body to the limit.
“I’ll do anything,” Buzelis told the Tribune in December. “Trust me. I will do anything.”
Buzelis will have plenty of guidance from his locker room. Teammate Zach LaVine is a two-time dunk contest champion whose high-flying antics in the 2016 contest — paired against then-Orlando Magic star Aaron Gordon — are still considered by many fans to be the best iteration of the contest to date.
With his commitment to the contest, Buzelis is now the first Bulls player to earn an invitation to this year’s All-Star game. The team is also campaigning for stars Zach LaVine, Coby White and Nikola Vučević to earn selections this season as they power the Bulls on offense.
NBA All-Star Weekend will take place from Feb. 14-16 in San Francisco. The dunk contest will take place at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15 and the All-Star game will tip off at 8 p.m. on Feb. 16.
