Wiggins, LaVine headline pre-season dunk contest

Andrew Wiggins comments on a whirl wind off season that saw him drafted and then traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

If you’re into dunking (and who isn’t?), February can’t come fast enough.

That’s because with Andrew Wiggins, Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine headlining a rookie crop featuring some of the most explosive athletes to hit the NBA in years, there’s a strong chance that this might be the season the dunk contest at All-Star Weekend ceases to suck.

But it turns out that if you’re in Minnesota you won’t have to wait that long. Not even close.

Earlier this week, the Timberwolves announced they will be holding a Midnight Madness-style team scrimmage on the eve of the pre-season at a university campus near Minneapolis. Taking a page out of the college text book, the event will feature a dunk contest between Wolves rookies Wiggins, LaVine and Glenn Robinson III. Why is this noteworthy? Because of this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

It’s an incredibly fun idea that makes perfect sense given a) the collegiate environment is a natural fit for a team so young and, b) the Wolves need to keep appealing to a fan base that lost its franchise player (Kevin Love) and is prepping for a re-building process that will feature plenty of highlights, but not a whole lot in the way of wins.

The event goes down on September 29th and will be aired live on NBATV.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.