NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Betting Preview & Picks

The 2022 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest is happening on Saturday night, and today we will be diving into the participants and their odds to determine who we should be placing a wager on to win this event.

The Slam Dunk Contest has felt a bit bland in recent years specifically, whether it be the dunks are usually retreads or the lack of star power competing, but we have some young stars in this year’s event.

The four contestants in the event are Orlando Magic’s Cole Anthony, Golden State Warriors’ Juan Toscano-Anderson, New York Knicks’ Obi Toppin, and Houston Rockets’ Jalen Green.

All four of these players are looking to win the event for the first time, and only Toppin has competed before as he was the runner-up in last year’s event. The event will go as followed:

Each competitor will get two dunks in the first round, and the panel of five judges will rate each dunk on a scale of six to 10, resulting in a combined score of 30-50.

The combined score from both dunks will determine which two players advance into the final round. The two finalists will also get a pair of dunks with the combined score of those two dunks determining which player will be crowned this year’s dunk contest champion.

Who Should We Bet On?

According to top sportsbooks used and the time of which you place your wager, the odds can vary a little.

However, at the time of this writing, Jalen Green is the favorite at +190, followed by Obi Toppin +190, Cole Anthony +250, and finally Juan Toscano-Anderson +550.

One player I would immediately say should have no chance of making the finals is Toscano-Anderson. The NBA wants to promote stars, and the name value of Green, Toppin, and Anthony are multiple tiers above what Toscano-Anderson can provide.

I think that hurts his chances as a premeditated factor in this, and the odds are telling us that as he is double the next lowest competitor’s odds.

Then this falls between Jalen Green, Obi Toppin, and Cole Anthony. I like to pick two guys for the dunk contest because the odds are solid, and then you have a chance of at least one player in the finals.

Overall, I would go with Obi Toppin as he was in the final round last season and is the only player in this year’s competition with experience. He knows how to work the crowd and the judges to get a high enough score to make the finals and eventually win it.

The question mark for me is between Jalen Green and Cole Anthony, but I seem to lean a little more towards Cole Anthony there. The main reason is because these judges love nostalgia, and Cole has hinted at getting his father, former NBA player and announcer Greg Anthony, involved somehow.

I think the tug on the heartstrings there will give Anthony an edge, but I believe Toppin will edge Anthony in the final round and win the event in his second attempt. Just please don’t miss dunks during the event!

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