Zion currently plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, where he is one of the team's star stars. Zion is the best active dunker in the NBA, but as the top pick in the 2019 draft, he has been in the NBA for five seasons and has only been selected as an All-Star twice and played once.
In the 2020-21 All-Star Game, Zion shot 5-of-9 and got 9 points and 1 rebound. Zion is also very angry about not being selected as an All-Star in the 2023-24 season, and he has played 51 games this season, averaging 220 points, 55 rebounds, 52 assists.
After the team's 139-98 win over the Toronto Raptors, Zion said after the game that he would like to play next year, but only if he is an All-Star. Once you lose the All-Star selection, you will not participate in the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.
After the game, Zion said, "I have to do my best to go to the All-Star Game. If I had been in the All-Star Game, I would have participated in the Slam Dunk Contest, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have participated. ”
Zion has been in the NBA for five seasons and has only played 165 games so far. In 2022, he signed a five-year contract extension with the PelicansA $600 million contract, this contract has an incentive clause, that is, when he is selected to the All-NBA team or wins an MVP or other honors, his big contract will become 5 years and 2$3.1 billion.
Considering the decline of the NBA All-Star Game in recent years, the NBA does need some players who are good at dunking to help the All-Star Dunk Contest regain popularity. If Zion can participate in the slam dunk contest, maybe this will attract the attention of many fans**.
The winners of the NBA's All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in the last two seasons are both McClung McClung . However, he belongs to the mercenary of the All-Star Game and is not a real All-Star player, so the outside world is also dissatisfied with the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.
Among the current NBA active young players, Obitopin, Zion, and Ja Morant are outstanding in dunking, and if these three can participate in the 2025 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, they may attract a lot of attention from the outside world.
However, judging from Zion's practice of threatening the league to select himself in the All-Star Game before participating in the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, he is likely to continue to lose the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest next year. The NBA doesn't threaten players, that's the bottom line, and the league doesn't ask you to play in any games. The NBA has a strong star-making ability, and they don't care about a star like Zion, who has only played more than 160 games.
Moreover, Zion threatens the league to make himself an All-Star, more to activate the incentive clause in the contract so that he can get 2$3.1 billion in fully guaranteed salary cap.