Jan 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) reacts after dunking the ball in the second half against the Boston Celtics at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Jalen Duren is representing the Detroi t Pistons in the 2026 Slam Dunk Contest. He joins Los Angeles Lakers big Jaxon Hayes and San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant in the infamous contest. Duren was already named an All-Star this season. The dominant big is averaging an 18-point, ~11-rebound double-double. His team defense has improved, he’s creating off the bounce, and his effort as a whole is through the roof. The casual fan who begins to pay attention to the NBA after the Super Bowl will be seeing a lot of Duren in Los Angeles in the middle of February. The Dunk Contest has been “dead” for a while now. Mac McClung has won the event three years in a row, and he’s not a standard NBA player. His dunks were pretty cool, but the star power in the dunk contest hasn’t been there. John Wall was the last All-Star to win the contest in 2014 as he won with Team East. Jaylen Brown was an All-Star when he participated in the 2024 contest, but we aren’t usually getting the brightest stars these days. Duren has a chance to stamp himself on another national stage. We see his skyscraping jams on a nightly basis, but the world’s about to see how he floats. Duren is fourth in the league with 111 dunks this year. A high dunk count doesn’t necessarily mean one can be an entertaining dunker, but Duren can fly and has some wiggle. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls some tricks out of his bag. It’s hard coming up with dunks that have never been done, but Duren putting his name in this hat can be good for his notoriety. Being the All-Star that delivers at the dunk contest is a cool footnote for his already phenomenal season. ...read more read less