SALT LAKE CITY – Now that next month's All-Star Game starters and reserves have been named, Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine is prepping to defend his Saturday slam-dunk title. Even if he still claims he hasn't decided whether he will, at least not until the NBA confirms he'll be back.
"Officially, I have not decided," he said. "Personally? I don't know."
LaVine's resounding victory in Brooklyn last year brought him endorsement deals as well as worldwide fame, which he discovered when he made a lunchtime public appearance at a park in China last spring.
"I knew I had a lot of fans, a lot of followers," he said. "There were like 2,500 people there. They said I had more fans than Kevin Durant did."
LaVine performed contest-worthy dunks after practice Tuesday, even calling General Manager Milt Newton over to watch.
"I have a couple of them that might be, I still have some tricks under my sleeve," LaVine said. "I have to start practicing again."
He has tried to persuade teammate Andrew Wiggins to join him, particularly since All-Star weekend is coming to Wiggins' hometown of Toronto. Wiggins repeatedly has expressed no interest.
"He said he lost a dunk contest in high school and he was disappointed they didn't give him the right scores so he's not doing it again," LaVine said. "He has some dunks that will beat anybody. I've seen them. We were just messing around one day and I was like, 'I can't do that,' and 'I can't do that.' He'd be big-time competition."
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