Juan Toscano-Anderson will be the first Warriors’ representative in the dunk contest on Saturday since Harrison Barnes in 2014.
JTA joined the Murph & Mac Show on Friday morning and admitted he was surprised to get the invite. However, when you consider what he did to JaVale McGee earlier this year, it makes a lot of sense.
The question is, is JTA solely an impressive in game dunker or can he actually put on a show? According to the oddsmakers it’s the former. JTA is considered the longshot of the four participants.
| Jalen Green | +175 |
| Obi Toppin | +200 |
| Cole Anthony | +250 |
| Juan Toscano-Anderson | +550 |
JTA told KNBR that when his agent presented him with the opportunity to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest, he thought it was a “no brainer.”
“I mean nah, I never even really considered it, but I can do some dunks,” Toscano-Anderson said. “You just don’t really know what you can do until you start to practice it. Lately I’ve been practicing some stuff that I never even knew or thought that I could do. I’m really just opening up new chapters of my dunk repertoire.
“I’m looking at all types of dunks. Asking people what they think, asking for advice, any tidbits. I always believe more brains are better than one, so even if I don’t like the suggestion I won’t use it, but I feel like everybody has something to offer. I’ve been asking literally everybody — my mom, my sister, my girlfriend, even people who don’t play basketball.”
Toscano-Anderson said that his favorite dunk contest was the famous competition in Oakland in 2000, when Vince Carter put together arguably the best performance in history.
While that performance is remembered as bringing the dunk contest back into the mainstream, the competition has evolved significantly over the last two decades. JTA isn’t opposed to including some new-age antics into his attempts.
“I’m into the props and stuff a little bit,” he said. “It’s a show man, people want to be entertained. They want to see something unique. So you just got to figure out how to make it exciting.”
Though the Vince Carter performance looms large in his memory, the Oakland native will always remember Jason Richardson — a two time slam dunk champ — as his favorite of all time.
“He’s No. 1 for me, man. It’s very nostalgic for me. Takes me back to a time in my life. J-Rich is number one in my book.”
Might we see a J-Rich jersey on Saturday?
“I can neither confirm nor deny that. You guys seem like smart individuals so y’all can figure that out.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Murph & Mac weekdays from 6 – 10 a.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.