The NBA announced today that L.A. Clippers All-Star center DeAndre Jordan will compete in the 2017 Verizon Slam Dunk on Feb. 18 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Jordan will be joined by Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic, Derrick Jones Jr. of the Phoenix Suns and Glenn Robinson III of the Indiana Pacers.
Jordan leads the NBA with 150 dunks this season. He is second in the NBA in rebounding (13.8) and leads the NBA in field goal percentage (.696), while averaging 12.3 points and 1.80 blocks per game.
Jordan is the first Clippers player to participate in the Slam Dunk contest since Eric Bledsoe in 2013. The Clippers boast two former Slam Dunk Champions (Blake Griffin - 2011, Brent Barry - 1996).
The 2016 First Team All-NBA and First Team All-Defense member averaged 15.8 rebounds per game for the month of January and has notched a league-leading eight games with at least 20 rebounds this season.
Verizon Slam Dunk is part of State Farm® All-Star Saturday Night, which will be televised by TNT at 8 p.m. ET and will also be available on the Watch TNT App and on TNT Overtime. In addition, the event will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, with audio also available on the ESPN app.
Verizon Slam Dunk is a two-round event in which the four participants can perform any dunk they choose without time limits. The players have a maximum of three attempts to complete each dunk in both the first round and the final round. Five judges score every dunk on a scale of 6 to 10, resulting in a high score of 50 and a low score of 30.
All four competitors get two dunks in the first round. The two players with the highest combined score for their two dunks advance to the head-to-head final round. The player with the highest combined score for his two dunks in the final round is crowned the champion. Click here for a complete explanation of the rules.