First 2023 NBA Dunk Contest Participant Revealed

The NBA Dunk Contest surely isn't what it used to be, both in terms of star power, nor impressiveness of dunks. Sure, maybe there is some level of "we've seen it all" that hurts it, but if we're going to lack originality, then let's at least watch the stars be unoriginal.

LeBron James, the world's best player for the better part of the last two decades, has famously refused to enter the Dunk Contest a single time in his career. Giannis Antetokounmpo has only done it once, and he wasn't a star by any stretch at the time.

Nevertheless, the Dunk contest continues to be the premier event of NBA All-Star Weekend. If the stars can't be in it, the NBA is correctly choosing to bring in young, hungry, talented and athletic rookies, who have put on some impressive performances in recent years. For the 2023 contest, we now have our first participant and he fits that mold perfectly. Portland Trail Blazers rookie Shaedon Sharp is the first player to commit to the contest this year.

Sharpe is off to a great career start with the Blazers, putting up 7.9 points and 2.5 rebounds in just 19.7 minutes per game.

He's helped a Blazers squad hold on to a playoff spot, sitting at the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, with a 19-18 record.

Now, we just have to wait for the other three names to see how exciting of a contest it will be this year, but it's off to a good start.

David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

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