Jericho Sims, no stranger to rocking the rim, to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, New York Knicks forward and former Longhorn big man Jericho Sims is replacing Portland’s Shaedon Sharpe in the 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He’ll seek to rock the rim with his arms and hands, as opposed to his head like in the viral video from 2021 below.
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Sims, a soft-spoken 6-foot-10, 250-pounder selected by New York in the second round of the 2021 draft, has carved out a regular role for the Knicks in his second season. He’s appeared in 43 games and started 12, including the last 10 for the Eastern Conference’s seventh-place team. Sims is averaging 3.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per contest. However, in those 10 starts, he’s played at least 25 minutes in six of them.
The explosive Sims has long been a high-jumper. He recorded the NBA Combines second-highest max vertical jump in 2021 with a 44.5-inch leap, second only to Hamidou Diallo. His standing vertical was 37 inches.
The basketball world will get a taste of what Sims did often at Texas during his four-year career. A prominent figure in former head coach Shaka Smart’s pick-and-roll offense, Sims often found rim-busting opportunities during his time in burnt orange.
Like this one versus Iowa State in 2020…
Or this one versus Michigan early in his career in 2017…
Or the one this cheekily-edited highlight from 2019…
He did it early and often in his four-year career, including before it officially started. The Horns took a trip down under to Australia ahead of the 2017-18 season, scrimmaging a handful of professional teams. He made an early introduction to the rim while there, even in a season where he was often playing second-string minutes behind Mo Bamba.
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Sims will contend with Houston Rockets forward Kenyon Martin Jr., New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III, and G-League guard Mac McClung during one of the signature events of All-Star Weekend.
It won’t be the first dunk contest Sims has participated in, as he took part in one put together during the 2017 Texas Tip-Off in Gregory Gym.
He’ll face tougher competition in front of an international TV audience in this edition. Only time will tell if he brings home the award for slamming it home the best.
(Here’s one more Sims dunk for good measure.)
