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Celtics’ Jaylen Brown wants another shot at Slam Dunk Contest
"I think dunking is an art form. Obviously I think I got more in the tank than what I displayed."
After finishing in second place in the Slam Dunk Contest during the 2024 All-Star Game festivities in Indianapolis, it seems like Celtics star Jaylen Brown wants another shot at the crown.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of Boston’s road matchup against the Bulls, Brown confirmed that he’d be interested in taking part in the gravity-defying showcase once again in 2025 — so long as the opportunity presents itself.
“If nobody else cares to do it, (expletive) it, I’ll do it again,” Brown said, per Souichi Terada of MassLive.com. “I don’t really care. People think like memes and stuff. But like I said, I think dunking is an art form. Obviously I think I got more in the tank than what I displayed. I think I could perform better. I had a great time.”
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Brown came up short against reigning Slam Dunk champion Mac McClung on Saturday, with Brown standing as the first All-Star player to take part in the competition since Victor Oladipo in 2018.
Brown paid several tributes during his slams, honoring Dorchester native and NBA hopeful Terrence Clarke by donning his Brewster Academy jersey for his first dunk of the final round.
The LED court at Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium also featured an image of Clarke, who tragically passed away in a car accident while preparing for the 2021 NBA Draft.
“Terrence was like my little bro,” Brown told reporters after the event. “Definitely a Boston connection. I wanted to have a purpose in everything that I was doing. I wanted everything to have a message behind it, and I think that’s what I did tonight.”
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Other dunks that Brown threw down included a slam with his left hand while wearing a Michael Jackson-esque white glove, along with a tribute to Dee Brown’s “no look” dunk after taking a feed from Jayson Tatum and slamming it over the head of content creator Kai Cenat.
It does seem like Brown held off from a few more elaborate moves, as he revealed on Instagram that he originally planned to show off Dee Brown’s “no-look” move mid-air — but wasn’t able to pull it off during the competition until after he landed.
“I wasn’t trying to do anything crazy,” Brown said Thursday. “Everything I wanted to do was more about the gimmicks and the showmanship, put on a show. But people didn’t really care about any of that stuff.
“They just wanted to see you go between the legs twice. I think the dunk contest should be more about the show, as well, putting on a show, the hype. But it’s changed from that. People only want to see a spectacular dunk.”
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