Raptors rookie Terrence Ross has three important backers when it comes to his candidacy in the Slam Dunk Contest: Dwyane Wade, the "captain" of the East team in the Saturday night events, his coach, Dwane Casey and a guy with a bit of dunking experience in teammate DeMar DeRozan
DeMar DeRozan lobbying for Terrence Ross in dunk contest
Two-time slam dunk contest competitor DeMar DeRozan thinks Terrence Ross should be in the competition this year -- and he’s got a good reason.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
DeRozan's dunking skills are well-known: he won the McDonalds All-American Dunk contest in high school and was twice selected to be in the All-Star weekend event, losing in 2010 on a fan vote to diminutive three-time champ Nate Robinson by percentage points, then failing to make the final round in 2011, the year Blake Griffin jumped a car. But he's no longer just a dunker, and is averaging a career-high 17.6 points -- twice as much as the 8.6 he averaged when he was selected to the contest as a rookie -- and he feels it's Ross' turn:
“I keep telling him, I say: ‘Dog, you go out there and win it.’” DeRozan said. “‘You can win it. You can do something a lot of people have never seen.’ He’s saying: ‘I know, I know.’”
He had advice, though:
“I’m telling him, first of all, just because he thinks it’s any other dunk contest and you just go out and dunk, no,” DeRozan says stressing the negative at the end. “I try to let him know that millions of people are going to be watching you. You could change how people look at you from that day on. Everything is going to be different.”
Here’s some of Ross’s dunking resume, culled from his first few months in the NBA. The music isn’t so safe for work, so turn down your speakers:
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