Brooklyn Nets: History of Nets on All-Star Saturday

Slam Dunk Contest

The Brooklyn Nets have a thin history in the Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend, with just three contestants since the contest was introduced in 1984.

The Nets have never had a dunker advance beyond the first round in their short history in the contest.

Here is how the Nets have fared:

2015: Mason Plumlee

Mason Plumlee of the host Brooklyn Nets was one of four dunkers in the 2015 Slam Dunk Contest at Barclays Center.

He opened with a 40 on his first dunk, catching a pass off the bottom of the backboard from Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and throwing down a strong reverse baseline dunk.

On his second dunk, Plumlee had help from a bit closer to home, as older brother Miles Plumlee, then of the Phoenix Suns, stood just outside the restricted arc as Mason leaped over him for a tomahawk dunk.

His second dunk score of 36 wasn’t enough to get him through to the finals, as Victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic had a perfect 50 on his first dunk and Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves maxed out both of his opening slams.

LaVine easily defeated Oladipo 94-75 in the final.

2003: Richard Jefferson

Richard Jefferson became just the second Net to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest when he was chosen in 2003 at Atlanta and was the first New Jersey player in the field in 14 years.

He scored a 37 on his first dunk, starting above the break and tossing a pass to himself off the glass before throwing down a windmill.

For his second attempt, he went baseline for a fairly basic 180 from under the basket. A second 37 left him last among the four contestants and he was eliminated.

Jason Richardson of the Golden State Warriors easily reached the finals with a 50-50 performance in the first round and was joined by Desmond Mason of the Seattle SuperSonics, who had scores of 46 and 44.

Richardson got a 45 on his first dunk in the finals, while Mason nailed a perfect 50. But Richardson closed out with a 50 and won it after Mason got a 43 on his last attempt.

1989: Chris Morris

Chris Morris was one of eight dunkers in the 1989 Slam Dunk Contest in Houston.

He didn’t do badly, but his dunks of 41.1 and 42.1 were the two lowest scores of the first round and he was eliminated.

Kenny Walker of the New York Knicks and Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers ended up advancing to the finals after former champion Spud Webb of the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers forward Shelton Jones were eliminated in the semifinals.

Walker won going away with scores of 48.9 and a pair of 49.6 dunks, with Drexler opting out of his final attempt after missing his first two tries for scores of 24.5 and 25.0.

But there is one other dunk contest worthy of mention in this space.