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Minneapolis • As always, Jeremy Evans was smiling. Beaming, in fact.
The second-year Jazz forward was minutes away Wednesday from officially being announced as a late addition to the NBA all-star dunk contest.
Evans had been talking about the event for nearly six weeks. During the build-up, he revealed he'd randomly jumped over his Camaro during the NBA lockout. Teammates such as Earl Watson and Gordon Hayward had openly campaigned for him. The organization had started a campaign backing Evans, while fans stormed the Internet pushing for his inclusion.
When the initial four contest participants were announced last Thursday, though, Evans didn't make the cut. But with New York guard Iman Shumpert dealing with a right knee injury, the door was opened last-minute for Salt Lake City's Human Pogo Stick. Now, Evans is set to join prime-time names including Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Blake Griffin in dunk-contest history. And the former Western Kentucky forward who was nearly overlooked during the 2010 NBA draft was all smiles Wednesday discussing his unexpected involvement.
"It's just good for me getting my name out there and letting them know who I am and just what I do," Evans said before the Jazz played the Minnesota Timberwolves. "I'm an energy guy and that's what I do: dunk the ball."
Evans will join Houston's Chase Budinger, Indiana's Paul George and Minnesota's Derrick Williams in the contest, which will be held Saturday at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. The event will feature only one round and competitors will execute three dunks. Fans will vote on the winner, and player-specific Twitter hashtags will be part of the voting process.
"I'm so happy for Jeremy. Jeremy's one of the best guys I've known in my life," Watson said.
He added: "If he comes home with a [win], we might have to put him into some therapy sessions because … we'll have to bring him back down to earth."
Evans will join teammates Derrick Favors and Hayward during all-star weekend. Favors and Hayward will participate in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.
Hayward spent part of Wednesday discussing dunk ideas for Evans with Matt Harpring, the Jazz broadcaster who used to play for the team.
Harpring had the look of a mad scientist walking along the Target Center hardwood during Utah's pre-game warm-ups. Props may be involved once Evans starts flying through the air, since creativity is the key.
"It's cool," Harpring said. "Obviously we've seen what he can do. So just getting him out on that main stage was the hard thing to do. It's not only me … a lot of the Jazz fans have helped."