Arizona men’s basketball alum and current Miami Heat Keshad Johnson outlasted fellow former Wildcat and current San Antonio Spur Carter Bryant to win the 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
Johnson marks the first NBA Wildcat to win the contest after four players before him did not win. On their first dunk attempt, Johnson received a 47.4 and Bryant received a 45.6.
Bryant earned a spot in the championship first after scoring a 49.2, and Johnson followed with a 45.4 on his dunk.
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In the championship round, Johnson was the first to go and received a 49.6. He was upstaged by Bryant who received a perfect 50 score on his first dunk.
After another impressive and athletic dunk, Johnson got a 47.8 on his second dunk which put all the pressure on Bryant to win. Unable to complete his complicated final dunk, Bryant had to settle for a regular dunk and did not earn enough points to beat Johnson.
Finishing with a final score of 97.4 in the championship round, Johnson won the competition over Bryant, as well as Orlando Magic guard Jase Richardson and Los Angeles Lakers forward Jaxson Hayes.
Even though it was a second place finish for Bryant in the dunk contest, he did not leave the NBA all-star weekend empty handed.
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Bryant was a part of the Rising Stars championship team. Playing for Team Vince, who was coached by NBA hall of famer Vince Carter, he scored nine points between the two games he played.
Johnson and Bryant added to the list of former Wildcats to participate in the dunk contest, putting the overall total at six players and an overall total of appearances at eight.
Aaron Gordon was the last Wildcat to participate in 2020. He has also previously participated in the 2016 and 2017 competitions.
The first former Arizona player to participate was Richard Jefferson in 2003. In between Gordon and Jefferson were Andre Iguodala in 2006 and Chase Budinger in 2012.
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Gordon, Iguodala, and Budinger all had second place finishes, with Gordon being the only former Arizona player to have two second place finishes.
Given the performance both Johnson and Bryant put on this year, perhaps both will be called back for next year’s competition.
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