Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes is known to be a high flying act, es evidenced by him recently throwing down an Eastbay Funk dunk in the middle of a game, putting the ball through his legs for the slam.
It’s not often that a center has that kind of athleticism, but Hayes is up there with the best of them when it comes to throwing down dunks.
It appears that will be put to the test as Hayes has accepted an invitation to compete in the 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend, per Shams Charania of ESPN:
Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes and San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant have accepted invitations to the 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star weekend in L.A., sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 29, 2026
NBA All-Star Weekend will take place at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, so Hayes will get a chance to put on a show in front of the hometown crowd.
With Carter Bryant also accepting an invitation, there are two more spots up for grabs, and it will be interesting to see who Hayes’ competition ends up being. The last Laker to win the Slam Dunk Contest was Kobe Bryant in 1997 and since then, Shannon Brown (2010), Larry Nance Jr. (2018) and Dwight Howard (2020) have all participated in the event.
Jaxson Hayes discusses Eastbay dunk in game
Hayes has thrown down some crazy dunks throughout the course of his career, including the one he recently put through his legs. After the Lakers’ win, Hayes discussed where he came up with that idea.
“I mean, I’ve done it a few times in an NBA game before,” Hayes said. “Really, I just started doing it my sophomore year. You’re a kid, you’re in the garage, in the driveway on like the small hoop and you just try a bunch of dunks. I remember just trying it in like middle school and stuff and then I got to like my sophomore year, junior year of high school when I was actually dunking and I was like, let me try it real quick and got it. So now I’ve just been doing it.”
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