Jazz Rookie Mitchell Wins Dunk Contest

LOS ANGELES (WWJ) - Saturday night's NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest really wasn't much of a contest.

Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell stole the show from the start. He racked up an aggregate score of 196 across four total dunks and beat out Larry Nance, Jr. in the final round.

Mitchell was the only contestant not to miss a dunk on his first attempt, in which he threw himself an alley-oop off a second basket, receiving a score of 48 from the judging panel made up of Hall-Of-Famer Julius "Dr. J" Erving, actor Mark Wahlberg, WNBA legend Lisa Leslie, DJ Khaled and comedian Chris Rock.

While Mitchell missed his first attempt on his second run, he changed things up and opted to jump over three people, including Kevin Hart. That one earned him the first 50 of the night from the panel.

For his first dunk in the final round, Mitchell went back to the dunk he missed in the second round and nailed it, receiving a second straight 50.

For his finale, Mitchell paid homage to Vince Carter in spectacular 2000 Dunk Contest-esque fashion.

Surprisingly, it only earned him a 48, but it was enough to edge out Nance, who got help from his father throughout the night. Larry Nance, Sr. won the inaugural Slam Dunk Contest back in 1984.

Mitchell, who the Pistons passed on in the 2017 NBA Draft, is the first rookie to win the dunk contest since Zach Lavine did so in 2015.

Pistons center Andre Drummond took to the court on Saturday night, but didn't fare so well, as he was eliminated in the first round of the Skills Challenge by Lauri Markkanen.

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