Second-year player makes the move from NBA starter to All-Star weekend participant
While we eagerly await news about the 2025 NBA All-Star Game’s lineups—and the possibility of sending Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard to the event in back-to-back seasons—word just got out that the Milwaukee Bucks contingent in San Francisco will include one Andre Jackson Jr.:
FROM SHAMS:
Milwaukee Bucks forward Andre Jackson Jr. has committed to the Slam Dunk Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend, sources tell ESPN. Jackson, a 2023 champion at UConn, has emerged as a Bucks starter in his second season and joins Stephon Castle and Matas Buzelis so far in dunk contest.
— Shams Charania Tweets (& Other NBA News) (@shamsbot.bsky.social) 2025-01-23T18:42:22.415761+00:00
Go ahead and insert all your jokes about Jackson finally having the greenest of green lights to shoot in the paint here.
In all seriousness, Jackson should be a natural fit for an event that has started to trend towards younger players breaking into the spotlight with the athletic upside to potentially wow. He’ll be able to learn from not one, but two teammates who have participated in the event before with Giannis and Pat Connaughton available to train him up. While Andre has a knack for creating looks in transition via pass rather than attacking the rim himself, he’s flashed plenty of body control and leaping ability during the season to suggest he’ll be a good participant.
I’m racking my brain to think of what bits would best suit his style (Will he have Jonathan the Husky™ take the floor to be leapt over? Should Giannis Antetokounmpo “shoot”—read: airball—an ill-advised three that Andre can gather and finish to credit his superstar teammate with an assist?) and welcome any and all ideas you may have in the comments.
Who knows, maybe getting some uncontested looks at an NBA basket without pulling some rabbit-out-of-the-hat style pass to an open shooter in the corner will do Andre’s scoring confidence some good? His shooting percentages have improved since the start of 2025 versus his numbers in the 2024 portion of the season, but the attempts have dropped as he’s moved into a more specialized role as defender first, fifth option on the floor second.
Either way we wish Andre the best of luck and look forward to watching his performance!