Jaylen Brown can't stop dunking on people this season. So, why not showcase his high-flying talents on the big stage in the 2024 NBA Dunk Contest?
That was the question posed to Brown on Wednesday night after the Celtics star threw down several thunderous dunks en route to 28 points in Boston's 144-119 rout of the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
And to his credit, Brown didn't say no.
"Who knows,” Brown said when asked if he consider participating in this year's dunk contest, via MassLive's Souichi Terada. “Man, I’m focused on getting my team ready for what’s next come and taking those next steps. We’ll see. I haven’t put any thought into it.
"Maybe if the people want it. Enough people ask for it, we’ll get it. As of now, I’m not really thinking about it."
In recent years, the dunk contest has shifted away from All-Stars and toward less proven young players. Last year's winner, Mac McClung, spent a majority of his season in the G-League, while the other three participants -- Trey Murphy III, Kenyon Martin Jr. and Jericho Sims -- were all under 25 years old. If Brown participates, he'd arguably be the dunk contest's biggest star of the past decade, not counting Dwight Howard's appearance in 2020 at age 34.
So, it'd be somewhat of a surprise to see Brown in the 2024 dunk contest unless other established stars join as well. But whether Brown signs up or not, the fact that it's even a conversation is a sign of how dominant he's been at the rim this season.
The 27-year-old has thrown down 37 dunks in 26 games this season, tied for 16th-most in the NBA, per Basketball Reference. All 15 players ahead of him on that list are either centers or power forwards, making Brown the league's most prolific non-big man dunker so far this season.
"(Brown is) by far the best in-game dunker (in the NBA)," Celtics guard Derrick White told our Abby Chin after Wednesday's game. "He dunks on someone once every other game, it feels like. It's special."
Brown seemingly has made highlight reels on a nightly basis. More importantly, he's playing with a renewed aggression and a determination to get to the rack that's resulted in a more efficient offensive game: He's shooting 52.6 percent in the month of December, his best shooting percentage in a month since November 2022.
Highlight reel dunks obviously help that percentage, so here's hoping Brown keeps catching bodies -- and considers putting on a show in Indianapolis in February.
