NBA All-Star Game 2012: 10 Potential Slam Dunk Contest Participants

With the 2012 All-Star game starters being announced, it's time to start thinking about the other All-Star events taking place on the weekend, in particular the Slam Dunk Contest.

Normally one of the more popular events of the weekend, the Dunk Contest attracts a large audience and never ceases to amaze it's viewers.

Last year Blake Griffin took the crown, but maybe it's time to introduce some new blood to the contest, as well as possibly bringing back some old favorites.

Blake Griffin

Defending champion Blake Griffin is the obvious name to watch for, after bringing down the house in 2011 with an insane dunk over the top of a car.

Griffin has unfortunately already stated that he won't be returning to the contest this year, but if the fans demand him—which they will—they could just persuade him to return another time.

After his now world-famous dunk over Kendrick Perkins, Griffin is top of the NBA "dunkosphere" and he doesn't look like coming down any time soon.

As a result, if Griffin does return, it won't bode well for any of the other potential contestants.  

Dwight Howard

Outside of Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard is pretty much the NBA's most prominent dunker. In fact, Howard routinely finishes atop the NBA in terms of number of dunks made at the end of the regular season.

Of course, for the Dunk Contest itself, dunking is more about quality rather than quantity and Howard certainly brings that to the plate too.

We all remember his battle with Nate Robinson, the Superman cape and, of course, the victory back in 2008.

Having Howard and Griffin in the contest would be fantastic for TV ratings and all the better for fans who want to be entertained on their All-Star Saturday night.

JaVale McGee

JaVale McGee probably should have won the contest last year, for his creativity if nothing else.

The Dunk Contest is often quite bland in terms of the different array of dunks players show off, but McGee entered unchartered territory with his two and three-ball dunks last year and who's to say he won't surprise us again if chosen in 2012?

One problem McGee had last year was his over-use of the dunk timer but maybe his second time around, with a little more experience and practice, he'll come back to stronger to make another run at the title.

Jeremy Evans

If Twitter trends are anything to go by, then people certainly want to see Jeremy Evans strutting his stuff in Orlando this year.

The #LetJeremyDunk movement has been pretty big on Twitter this year and if you are still confused as to why fans want to see him so badly, just take a look at the embedded video.

Evans is pretty damn athletic and he's been showing off some of his tricks he has up his sleeve in a couple of YouTube videos from the Official Utah Jazz Channel.

If Blake isn't coming back, Evans might well be the second-most popular choice as far as fans are concerned, so the NBA should just do the right thing and let Jeremy dunk! 

Iman Shumpert

There are a couple of rookies who've made this list, and here's the first; the New York Knicks' athletic two-guard Iman Shumpert.

The Georgia Tech product has already received praise from former contestant Amar'e Stoudemire as the best dunker on the Knicks, even with the presence of Bill Walker and that's about as good an endorsement as you can get at this point.

Shumpert hasn't really had the chance to show off the flair of his dunks just yet, but he does dunk quite frequently and could certainly whip up a few special moves to show us come February 25th.

LeBron James

No potential Dunk Contest participants list would be complete without LeBron James, notorious for promising to appear but eventually disappointing the millions who want to see him dunk.

To be fair to LeBron, though, he has been having somewhat of an unofficial contest with Blake Griffin this season, with both stars providing us with highlight dunk after highlight dunk.

We've learned now that we shouldn't expect LeBron to show up for this competition, but if he does, don't be surprised if he runs away with the title.

Kenneth Faried

The second of the two rookies to have made the list is Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, out of Morehead State.

Standing at 6'8" with a ton of athleticism, Faried has been showing off his dunking ability since being drafted back in June.

First off he played his part in Rajon Rondo's iconic lockout highlight, before showing us all that he could do the same in competitive NBA action.

If Faried can harness his athleticism and dunking ability, he may just turn up as a surprise candidate for the Dunk Contest.

Bill Walker

Bill Walker is one of the more underrated dunkers in the NBA today, unless of course you are a Knicks or Celtics fan.

Earning the nickname Bill "Sky" Walker for his jumping ability, Walker has provided us with a lot of highlights, despite only seeing limited court time in his first five years in the NBA.

Once Brandon Jennings was ruled out of last year's contest due to injury, Walker said that he would love to enter the contest but in the end Jennings was replaced by Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan.

As a relatively unknown player, it's unlikely that Bill Walker will find himself in Orlando for the contest but he definitely has the stuff to compete with the likes of those who will.

Josh Smith

Everyone in the NBA knows it's time to get out of the way when J-Smoove is going to the rim.

It's been all of six years since we last saw Josh Smith in a dunk contest but he has remained to this day one of the most dangerous in-game dunkers in the NBA.

We have yet to hear his name surrounding this contest but maybe if Griffin, Howard or LeBron don't show up, he could be the big name in 2012.

A lot of people think his effort in 2005 was the best showing by any dunker for a long time, so why not bring him back in 2012?

Brandon Jennings

To round off the list we have Brandon Jennings, a selected participant last year who was unfortunately ruled out due to a foot operation that had kept him out of the Bucks lineup for a few weeks beforehand.

Despite being a point guard—and a 6-1 point guard at that—Brandon Jennings knows how to get to the rim. He may not do it in games too often but if you take a look at some of his high school highlights you'll be blown away.

Considering that injury robbed him of his chance in 2011, maybe it's only fair to give Jennings another go this year.