The list of NBA All-Star snubs continues to grow and might have now spilled over into the rest of the weekend’s activities.
Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell told reporters Wednesday that he has not received an invitation to participate in this year’s Slam Dunk Contest.
"I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be in it so it’s all right that I’m not," Mitchell said. "Not really complaining about it, but it would’ve been cool, a great experience."
The NBA still hasn’t officially announced the dunk contest participants yet but Donovan Mitchell said he hasn’t received an invite. “I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be in it,” Mitchell said. pic.twitter.com/pzGAihsiEH
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) January 24, 2018
ALL-STAR 2018: Paul George, Chris Paul among biggest snubs
The comment came after Oliver Maroney of Dime and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported that Aaron Gordon, Victor Oladipo, Larry Nance Jr. and Dennis Smith Jr. had accepted invitations to participate in this year’s edition of the high-flying competition. However, both Smith and Nance took to Twitter to refute the initial reports.
Sorry guys but I have NOT been officially invited to the slam dunk contest. As stated previously, i would be honored to be apart of it.
— Dennis Smith Jr. (@Dennis1SmithJr) January 23, 2018
Don’t fall for #FakeNews... 🙄
— Larry Nance Jr (@Larrydn22) January 23, 2018
Jazz fans were understandably outraged that their breakout rookie will not be showcased in this national spotlight.
Good morning. Donovan Mitchell is not in the dunk contest, the Jazz have not made any trades, and the Jazz lost to the Atlanta Hawks two days ago. It's okay if you want to stay in bed. We got you.
— SLC Dunk (@slcdunk) January 24, 2018
The @NBA would be wrong not to have @spidadmitchell in at least the dunk contest! The dude has been beasting it up all year! https://t.co/w9rA39ET6M
— Brayden Ramsay (@brayden_ramsay) January 24, 2018
NBA Intern: We should make the dunk contest actually good this year and invite Donovan Mitchell.
— Brandon (@cooplexd) January 24, 2018
*Adam Silver nods towards intern and giant man throws intern out of the window*
Adam Silver: Larry Nance Jr's dad was in the contest a while ago, so he's good... Right?#takenote
The NBA has made no official announcements regarding Slam Dunk Contests participants, so maybe Mitchell's invitation got lost in the mail?
Regardless, NBA fans will hope that the league rectifies these omissions. However, if the contest stands as reported, viewers will certainly be deprived of seeing how creative one of the league’s most exciting rookies could be.
Donovan Mitchell got the windmill! 👀#NBALeaguePass! ➡️ https://t.co/H7yQFVqu8o #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/EomUcBKeao
— NBA UK (@NBAUK) January 18, 2018