But the dunk that won Mitchell the contest, the Vince Carter reverse 360, is one that Mitchell wasn't confident about heading into the finals. #BestOfNBA ️ Double Trouble with Donovan Mitchell! (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, Pool) Chris Pizzello, AP But only needed one to start the final round: Donovan Mitchell gets his final round started off with a BANG!#VerizonDunk pic.twitter.com/JhUBHDhcBQ. You'll now receive the top For The Win stories each day directly in your inbox. When the game is on the line, he has confidence to make the plays that the team needs to be made to win games. While others attempted incredible feats of athleticism and missed, Mitchell stuck with the dunk contest script that he says he's been planning his whole life. The 3-Point Contest will be more exciting than the Dunk Contest. Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell won 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA All-Star festivities on Saturday night. “I wanted this so badly,” Mitchell said. © 2004-2021 CBS Interactive. "Half man, half amazing! Los... Steph Curry is one of the most fun players in the NBA. These tomahawk slams from Spida remind us why the Utah Jazz guard is a former dunk champion. During Mitchell’s career in the postseason, he is averaging 23.4 points in 16 playoff games. Mitchell set the tone with the first dunk of the competition on Saturday, throwing an alley-oop to himself using the backboard of a second basket. 7th March 2021. When: Friday, April 16 “I loved doing the dunk contest last year and it was a ton of fun, but I also know it takes a lot of focus, practice, and preparation,” Mitchell told The Deseret News in 2019. Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell is expected to replace Orlando’s Aaron Gordon in the dunk contest on NBA All-Star weekend, league sources tell ESPN. They’re going to be even more disappointed to hear he … Case in point: During the Warriors' game against the Cavaliers, Keirth Burke of NBC Sports Bay Area made a request to Curry at halftime for him to do an airplane celebration. The SportsBeat team put together the five best dunks in the postseason in Donovan Mitchell’s young career. Donovan Mitchell jumps over Kevin Hart for the 5⃣0⃣! It's a dunk he's been doing since high school, usually using the back wall of the gym instead of another hoop. Let’s send Donovan Mitchell to the dunk contest. In 2018 as a rookie, Mitchell averaged 24.3 points per game. Donovan mitchell's fourth quarter dunk was a clear posterization. Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell is expected to replace Orlando’s Aaron Gordon in the dunk contest on NBA All-Star weekend, league sources tell ESPN. Mitchell replicates the dunking legend and wins the #VerizonDunk Contest with this incredible hammer!#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/G4XxvLbgYl, Sign up for the For The Win newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. So you've got to approach it every day like this is your last day. "If you continue to learn, learning is underrated for kids nowadays," Mitchell said. Donovan Mitchell is your 2018 Slam Dunk Contest winner, topping Larry Nance in the Finals. MIKE PRADA: Donovan Mitchell won the 2018 Slam Dunk Contest, but judging from our Slack channel, a bunch of y’all feel like others were robbed. He's averaged 22 points per game since Jan. 1, and is rapidly gaining on 76ers phenom Ben Simmons as the front-runner for Rookie of the Year as the Jazz have thrust themselves into the playoff race. ... my favorite event was the Slam Dunk Contest. Watch the best tomahawk dunks from his career right here. Donovan Mitchell skipped the Slam Dunk Contest this year to focus on the end of the Jazz’s season, but he did try his hand at something new (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell will not defend his Slam Dunk contest title during the upcoming All-Star Weekend, according to a report from the Deseret News. Mitchell won the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk contest Saturday in emphatic fashion, putting the icing on the cake of a month that saw the Jazz win 11 straight games, which helped catapult Mitchell to the forefront of the Rookie of the Year race. Utah Jazz's Donovan Mitchell's impressive rise could reach new heights on All-Star Saturday Night. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: nba | pageType: stories | "Being in the Western Conference, how he's not shy, you know, leading the team. 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