Russell Westbrook Talks Dunk Contest

By now, we’ve all gotten used to seeing Russell Westbrook take flight for soaring dunks like the one he had Sunday night at Houston. They’ve left us in awe and made us salivate over the possibility of the Thunder’s point guard one day participating in the slam dunk contest.

The NBA has asked Westbrook to be a participant in this year’s contest. Westbrook said he’s politely declined. But Westbrook could change his mind since he’s likely to be in L.A. for the 60th All-Star Game anyway.

But here’s why Westbrook is hesitant. He just doesn’t see himself as a dunk contest type of dunker.

“I don’t really have trick dunks and all that,” Westbrook said. “I just like games. The dunk contest is totally different from what it used to be. You got to do a lot of different stuff to get points. You got to flip and bring out a lot of different (stunts) to get some points.”

Westbrook had an opportunity to be in the contest as a rookie during the 2009 All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. But fans voted in Rudy Fernandez as the final participant over Westbrook and Joe Alexander. And Fernandez supplied a largely forgettable performance.