Zion Williamson recently announced that he was interested in participating in the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest at some point in his career. However, the NOLA star was also clear about a promise made to himself that he’d only let himself participate in the competition after he made the All-Star team first, an aspect of which left Shaquille O’Neal deeply upset, as he recently revealed publicly.
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The following is what Zion said on the matter of the dunk contest, as per Bleacher Report.
“I gotta do my part and make the All-Star game. If I make the All-Star game, I’ll do the dunk contest. But, if I’m not, not doing it”
Countless fans have taken issue with Williamson’s statement. Some have even alleged that the star is trying to force the NBA into handing him an All-Star selection, even if he may not deserve it, come next season.
However, while most have taken issue with Zion’s condition to enter the dunk contest, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has no problem with the presence of such a thing. Instead, the big man was peculiarly upset with the Pelicans star due to the way he phrased his condition. On a recent episode of Inside the NBA, Shaq elaborated,
“You have to visualize. So, I don’t like when you say ‘If’ I make the All-Star team. [It should be] ‘When’ I make the All-Star team! You have to see it, Zion, ‘When I make the All-Star team!’…
Raising questions on the 2019 1st pick’s confidence, Shaq mentioned that he needs to have that ‘This is my league’ attitude.
“LeBron’s leaving, KD [Kevin Durant] is getting older. You know, you’re talking about Luka [Doncic], all these guys that came in before me, after me? This is my league!’. So his thought process should be ‘Next year, WHEN I become an All-Star, unanimous decision All-Star.'”
Zion Williamson has always had the talent to make the All-Star team, and now, his health seems to be coming along for the ride as well. So, as Shaquille O’Neal says, it is likely that the only thing missing from the equation is the mentality. However, that does seem to be changing too.
This season, Williamson has averaged 22.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, while shooting 57.5% from the field, and a very impressive 38.5% from beyond the arc. With the power forward starting to elevate his game, there is no reason to believe he won’t make the All-Star team next season. And now with O’Neal’s words present to give him the push he needs as well, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the star make an All-NBA team by the end of the season.
Zion Williamson has made the All-Star team two times already
Perhaps Zion Williamson only recently set the dunk contest condition for himself since the young star has made the All-Star team twice already. That being the case, many have hoped that Williamson will participate in next year’s Slam dunk contest, regardless of making the All-Star team or not.
In the same line of thinking, fans have also implored Ja Morant on multiple occasions to appear in the Slam Dunk contest. However, the Grizzlies guard has been apprehensive about it up to this point.
The 2019 draft Classmates can work out an agreement where they appear in the same dunk contest in the future. However, for now, there seems to be little to no possibility of Morant potentially joining Zion next year.
