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p>Jeremy Evans won't have teammate and best friend Gordon Hayward at his disposal if he needs an assistant at next week's Slam Dunk Contest in Houston.
Hayward, the Jazz guard, will spend the All-Star Weekend at home in Indiana. But beyond that, don't expect the defending dunk champ to give any clues away about what he has up his sleeve for the Saturday night competition.
He's even keeping quiet around his teammates.
"He said that we might tweet it out or put it on Instagram," Randy Foye said.
And Evans, who won last year's contest first by dunking two basketballs while jumping over Hayward, then jammed over comedian Kevin Hart, might just need a comment box for all the suggestions he gets.
"Everyone has ideas," Evans said. "Walk into the arena, somebody may stop me out on the street, out in the mall, someone always has an idea. Some of them are pretty good ideas, you try them. Some of them are just impossible."
Joining Evans in the contest will be James White, Terrence Ross, Eric Bledsoe, Gerald Green and Kenneth Faried. Evans declined to name his biggest challenger, but said he has "a lot of competition." "Just to go on YouTube and watch their videos, man, it's amazing," Evans said.
Like last year, the contest winner will be determined entirely by fan vote online and on social media.
Evans will be the lone Jazz representative at All-Star festivities. Foye was not selected as a contestant in the 3-point shooting contest.
— Bill Oram