Utah Has Long History Of All-Star Saturday Night Competitors

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The state of Utah will add more locals to the All-Star Saturday Night festivities that will go down with some of the best performers in the completions.

Former Ute Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers will compete in the Skills Challenge, while former Weber State star Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers will participate in the three-point shootout.

The first slam dunk contest started in 1976 in the ABA, the state of Utah has had 7 players compete in 8 competitions, with 2 players taking home the title.

The three-point shootout started in 1986, Utah has had 5 different players compete with one player taking home the trophy twice.

The Skills Challenge started in 2004, the state has had 4 different locals, with 3 of them winning at least once.

Here is the history of the locals competing in the All-Star Saturday Night festivities:

Dunk Contest

1985 – Darrell Griffith

He got a 38 on his first attempt, 42 on the second and 46 on the third. He finished with 126 points in the first round and was in fourth behind Wilkins, Drexler and Jordan.

Wilkins beat Jordan in the finals.

Former Jazz legendary broadcast Hot Rod Hundley called the competition.

Participants: Dominique Wilkins (Atlanta Hawks, Champion), Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers), Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers), Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls), Larry Nance (Phoenix Suns), Terence Stansbury (Indiana Pacers), Orlando Woolridge (Chicago Bulls).

1987 – Tom Chambers

Former Ute Tom Chambers of the Seattle Supersonics wasn’t able to get to the final round and lost to one of the greatest players of all-time, Michael Jordan.

Participants: Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls, Champion), Johnny Dawkins (San Antonio Spurs), Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers), Ron Harper (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jerome Kersey (Portland Trail Blazers), Terence Stansbury (Seattle Supersonics), Gerald Wilkins (New York Knicks).

1993 – David Benoit

Former Jazzman David Benoit was able to perform in front of the Jazz fans with the All-Star festivities taking place at the Delta Center.

His first dunk was a reverse slam behind his head that earned him 41.5 points from the judges. Benoit’s second dunk of the night was a windmill dunk with two hands that gave him 44.3 points. His third dunk of the first round was a “rocking the cradle” attempt but missed. The Jazzman didn’t advance to the finals.

Participants: Harold Miner (Miami Heat, Champion), Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (Denver Nuggets), Cedric Ceballos (Phoenix Suns), Tim Perry (Philadelphia 76ers), Kenny Smith (Houston Rockets), Clarence Weatherspoon (Philadelphia 76ers).

2001 – DeShawn Stevenson

Former Jazzman DeShawn Stevenson competed with five other dunkers in Washington D.C. He missed his first dunk in the first round as he attempted an alley-oop off of the backboard and tried to slam the ball through the hoop with his right hand but missed, earning a 30 score.

His second dunk was a high lob bounce, where he collected the ball mid-air and windmill slammed the ball with two hands. He earned a 46 score from the judges.

Stevenson’s third dunk was assisted by Bryon Russell, who threw the ball off the backboard as Stevenson collected it while doing a windmill slam with his right hand, he earned a 49 score.

He advanced to the finals but earned a 38 on his first dunk.

Participants: Desmond Mason (Seattle Supersonics, Champion), Jonathan Bender (Indiana Pacers), Baron Davis (Charlotte Hornets), Corey Maggette (Los Angeles Clippers), Stormile Swift (Vancouver Grizzlies).

2012 – Jeremy Evans – Champion

In Orlando, former Jazzman Jeremy Evans had some tough competition. Evans also had a fantastic dunk in the second round where Gordon Hayward sat on a stool in front of the basket with two basketballs. Evans approached Hayward as he threw the basketballs in the air, where Evans caught one ball with each hand and dunked them both.

Another iconic dunk that Evans did was wearing Karl Malone’s jersey while doing Malone’s “Lazy Boy” dunk over comedian Kevin Hart.

Participants: Chase Budinger (Houston Rockets), Paul George (Indiana Pacers), Derrick Williams (Minnesota Timberwolves).

2013 – Jeremy Evans

Evans started his title defense by dunking over Jazz legend Mark Eaton, sitting on a chair. He had a unique routine of dunking over a painting that he created. Ross barely topped Evans to win the dunk contest.

Participants: Terrance Ross (Toronto Raptors, Champion), Eric Bledsoe (Los Angeles Clippers), Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets), Gerald Green (Indiana Pacers), James White (New York Knicks).

2014 – Damian Lillard

The format for this dunk contest was different. Former Weber State guard Damian Lillard was paired up with two other players from the western conference and they had one minute to do as many creative dunks as they could. The fans voted for the best dunker out of all six players.

Participants: John Wall (Washington Wizards, Champion), Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors), Paul George (Indiana Pacers), Ben McLemore (Sacramento Kings), Terrence Ross (Toronto Raptors).

2018 – Donovan Mitchell – Champion

The Utah Jazz rookie had many creative dunks in the 2018 Slam Dunk Contest. He started by throwing the ball off of a different back board and gathered the ball and slammed it on the other hoop, the judges gave him a 48.

Mitchell’s second dunk, he was wearing Jazz legend Darrell Griffith’s jersey. He got the ball off of the side of the backboard and dunked over Kevin Hart, his son and Mitchell’s sister.

His final dunk was a vintage Vince Carter dunk, where he did a 360 dunk with Carter’s Toronto Raptors jersey.

Participants: Dennis Smith Jr. (Dallas Mavericks), Larry Nance (Cleveland Cavaliers), Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers).

Three-Point Shootout

1987 – Danny Ainge

Former BYU guard Danny Ainge had to face fellow teammate Larry Bird in the semifinals, where he lost to the eventual champion.

Participants: Larry Bird (Boston Celtics, Champion), Michael Cooper (Los Angeles Lakers), Dale Ellis (Seattle Supersonics), Craig Hodges (Milwaukee Bucks), Detlef Schrempf (Dallas Mavericks), Byron Scott (Los Angeles Lakers), Kiki Vandeweghe (Portland Trail Blazers).

1988 – Danny Ainge

Ainge had to deal with Bird once again and couldn’t make it to the finals, where Bird won once again.

Participants: Larry Bird (Boston Celtics, Champion), Dale Ellis (Seattle Supersonics), Craig Hodges (Milwaukee Bucks), Mark Price (Cleveland Cavaliers), Detlef Schrempf (Dallas Mavericks), Byron Scott (Los Angeles Lakers), Trent Tucker (New York Knicks).

1989 – Danny Ainge

Former BYU guard Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics won the first round over Jon Sundvold, but it wasn’t enough to get to the next round, where Dale Ellis took the crown.

Participants: Dale Ellis (Seattle Supersonics, Champion), Michael Adams (Denver Nuggets), Derek Harper (Dallas Mavericks), Gerald Henderson (Philadelphia 76ers), Craig Hodges (Phoenix Suns), Reggie Miller (Indiana Pacers), Jon Sundvold (Miami Heat), Rimas Kurtinaitis.

1991 – Danny Ainge

Ainge was in his first season with the Portland Trail Blazers. He had to face Tim Hardaway in the first round of the shootout. Ainge topped Hardaway 15-14, he put up 18 points in the semifinals. He lost to Craig Hodges and Terry Porter.

Participants: Craig Hodges (Chicago Bulls, Champion), Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers), Tim Hardaway (Golden State Warriors), Hershey Hawkins (Philadelphia 76ers), Terry Porter (Portland Trail Blazers), Glen Rice (Miami Heat), Dennis Scott (Orlando Magic).

1992 – John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek

The Jazz duo couldn’t advance to the finals as Jim Les and Craig Hodges squared off in the finals with Hodges picking up the win, his third straight title.

Participants: Craig Hodges (Chicago Bulls, Champion), Dell Curry (Charlotte Hornets), Craig Ehlo (Cleveland Cavaliers), Jim Les (Sacramento Kings), Drazen Petrovic (New Jersey Nets), Mitch Richmond (Sacramento Kings).

1997 – John Stockton

Right out of the gates, John Stockton had to face Steve Kerr in the first round. Kerr knocked off the Jazz legend 15-13, but the 13 points didn’t get Stockton into the next round.

Participants: Steve Kerr (Chicago Bulls, Champion), Dale Ellis (Denver Nuggets), Tim Legler (Washington Bullets), Terry Mills (Detroit Pistons), Sam Perkins (Seattle Supersonics), Glen Rice (Charlotte Hornets), Walt Williams (Toronto Raptors).

1998 – Jeff Hornacek – Champion

Jeff Hornacek became the first Jazz player in franchise history to win the three-point shootout.

Participants: Hubert Davis (Dallas Mavericks), Dale Ellis (Seattle Supersonics), Sam Mack (Vancouver Grizzlies), Reggie Miller (Indiana Pacers), Tracy Murray (Washington Wizards), Glen Rice (Charlotte Hornets), Charlie Ward (New York Knicks).

2000 – Jeff Hornacek – Champion

Just before he defended his title, Hornacek won the “Shooting Stars” competition with Salt Lake City Starzz legend Natalie Williams.

Hornacek made 17 points in the first round to advance to the finals. He faced three dynamic shooters in Dirk Nowitzki and Ray Allen in the finals.

Allen finished with 10 points, Nowitzki ended with 11 and Hornacek had 13 points to win his second straight competition.

Participants: Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks), Ray Allen (Milwaukee Bucks), Mike Bibby (Vancouver Grizzlies), Hubert Davis (Dallas Mavericks), Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers), Terry Porter (San Antonio Spurs), Bob Sura (Cleveland Cavaliers).

2001 – Bryon Russell

Former Jazzman Bryon Russell couldn’t get past two phenomenal shooters in Ray Allen and Peja Stojakovic.

Participants: Ray Allen (Milwaukee Bucks, Champion), Pat Garrity (Orlando Magic), Allan Houston (New York Knicks), Rashard Lewis (Seattle Supersonics), Steve Nash (Dallas Mavericks), Peja Stojakovic (Sacramento Kings).

2014 – Damian Lillard

The former Weber State star had 18 points in his first round but it wasn’t enough to advance to the finals with Bradley Beal scoring 21 points and Marco Belinelli posting 19.

Participants: Marco Belinelli (San Antonio Spurs, Champion), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers), Arron Afflalo (Orlando Magic), Joe Johnson (Brooklyn Nets), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves).

Skills Challenge

2008 – Deron Williams – Champion

Former Jazzman Deron Williams had a nearly perfect round in the skills competition as he completed the obstacle in 31.2 seconds. Jason Kidd couldn’t hit the jumpshot and finished in 39 seconds. Chris Paul ended in 29.6 seconds. Dwyane Wade messed up on the dribbling portion of the course, ending with a 53.9 time.

Williams faced Paul in the finals. The former Jazzman put up an even better round with 25.5 seconds. Paul made a couple of mistakes, giving Williams the win.

Participants: Jason Kidd (New Jersey Nets), Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets), Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat).

2010 – Deron Williams

Williams faced Steve Nash in the finals, where he finished the course in 37 seconds after struggling on the passing part of the course.

Participants: Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns, Champion), Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee Bucks), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).

2013 – Damian Lillard – Champion

In Lillard’s first appearance in the skills competition, he advanced to the finals to compete against Jrue Holiday. The former Weber State Wildcat had completed the course in 29.8 seconds, while Holiday finished in 35.6 seconds to pick up the title.

Participants: Jrue Holiday (Philadelphia 76ers), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Brandon Knight (Detroit Pistons), Jeremy Lin (Houston Rockets), Jeff Teague (Atlanta Hawks).

2014 – Damian Lillard and Trey Burke – Champions

In the 2014 Skills Challenge, two players were on one team and competed against three other teams. Lillard and former Jazz point guard Trey Burke were on the same team that knocked off Victor Oladipo and Michael Carter-Williams to win the competition.

Participants: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors), Michael Carter-Williams (Philadelphia 76ers), Goran Dragic (Miami Heat), Reggie Jackson (Oklahoma City Thunder), Victor Oladipo (Orlando Magic).

2015 – Trey Burke

Burke was back to defend his title in the original format. He couldn’t get past Brandon Knight in the first round.

Participants: Patrick Beverley (Houston Rockets, Champion), Brandon Knight (Milwaukee Bucks), Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors), Elfrid Payton (Orlando Magic), Dennis Schroder (Atlanta Hawks), Jeff Teague (Atlanta Hawks), Isaiah Thomas (Either Boston Celtics or Phoenix Suns).

2017 – Gordon Hayward

Former Jazzman Gordon Hayward barely beat John Wall in the first round. He faced Isaiah Thomas in the second round and finally beat him after five missed three-pointers. Hayward lost to Kristaps Porzingis in the finals.

Participants: Kristaps Porzingis (New York Knicks, Champion), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings), Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans), Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Isaiah Thomas (Boston Celtics), John Wall (Washington Wizards).