Gerald Green sees himself winning one last Slam Dunk Contest. (Juan Ocampo/NBA/Getty Images)

HOUSTON — The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, the main event of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, is just hours away — the broadcast begins at 8:30 p.m. ET, on TNT — and the anticipation is building. Six dunkers — three from the Eastern Conference, three from the West — will vie for this year's dunk contest crown in a field that includes two former champions, one undersized third-year dynamo, one rim-rattling second-year monster, a world-renowned dunk competition legend and a rookie whom said legend called "the most talented" participant of the six.

I spoke with that rookie, Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors, about his plans for the competition earlier this week. I spoke with the contest's small fry, the Los Angeles Clippers' Eric Bledsoe, on Friday afternoon for a standalone piece (stay tuned for that). What follows, in brief, are some thoughts on the competition offered by three of the remaining four competitors during a Friday media availability session in advance of tonight's contest.

Absent, sadly, is defending champion and Utah Jazz forward Jeremy Evans, because I didn't get a chance to get a minute with him before the end of the All-Star Saturday Night media session. Evans said he hasn't gotten the respect a reigning title-holder should receive; while this is true in my case, I suspect I will be writing much more about his dunking prowess if he follows through on his promise to make a statement and win tonight.

That caveat in place, let's hear from Indiana Pacers swingman Gerald Green, New York Knicks wing James White and Denver Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried.

HOUSTON — Boston Celtics center and Eastern Conference All-Star starter Kevin Garnett started his Saturday morning answering a slew of questions about whether he'd consider waiving his no-trade clause to head to the Los Angeles Clippers in a rumored deal for Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan before the Feb. 21 trade deadline. (The answer, according to Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Marc J. Spears? A simple "No," followed by, "If it's up to me, I will live and die green.") So by the time he got to the East's practice, he was probably glad to be asked about anything else ... even if the "anything else" was, just three weeks ago, a question that was just as tiresome.

[Also: Sources: Clippers, Celtics discussing Kevin Garnett trade]

During the shootaround, TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager sidled up to New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, who'll start alongside Garnett and the Miami Heat trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Sunday's midseason classic, and asked him about whether the dust has truly settled between Anthony and Garnett. As you no doubt remember, the two stars were involved in a Jan. 7 on-court dust-up that wound up heading off-court, as Anthony and Garnett barked at one another by the Celtics' team bus in the bowels of Madison Square Garden. The transportation-adjacent kerfuffle wound up costing Anthony a one-game suspension, but in the aftermath, both Anthony and Garnett insisted there would be no bad blood between them going forward.

Still, with a captive NBA TV audience watching on Saturday, Sager had to ask.

HOUSTON — Before Kyrie Irving shook the audience from its slumber by deciding to shake defender Brandon Knight to the floor, this was probably my favorite moment from Friday night's BBVA Rising Stars Challenge at the Toyota Center — a quick, just before-the-end-of-the-first-half hookup between Minnesota Timberwolves sophomore point guard Ricky Rubio and Washington Wizards rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal.

It all starts so simply, with Rubio (who finished with five points and 10 assists in 15 1/2 minutes of playing time on Friday) getting a switch on the perimeter, hesitating just a beat and driving right against Golden State Warriors swingman Harrison Barnes. And then, it gets complicated — that beautiful, how'd-that-happen type of complicated that seems associated more with Rubio's passes than with those of any other table-setter in the league — when he heads under the basket, spots (without ever looking) Beal cutting in from the perimeter, and whips a one-hand, through-the-legs, no-look bounce pass past Barnes that hits Beal perfectly in step and in rhythm to get up and throw down.

Obviously, it's not shocking that Rubio would go between his legs — I mean, at this point it almost seems like passing through legs is the only kind of pass Rubio is interested in throwing — but even compared to his thrilling regular-season exploits, this seemed to have an extra bit of panache. Check out that reverse angle — he's looking directly into the crowd when he throws the pass straight behind him, perfectly on the button, to a driving Beal. There are many reasons why Ricky Rubio must get and remain fully healthy; ensuring that he is perpetually able to entertain us in exhibition games like the Rising Stars Challenge and always take part in everything related to All-Star Weekend is just one of them.

Video via @cjzero.

Kenneth Faried reaches back to drop the hammer. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBA/Getty Images)

HOUSTON — Kenneth Faried said on Friday afternoon that the best way for a high-motor, energy-and-rebounding big man like him to stand out in a typically guard-dominated exhibition like the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge is to "help lead his team to victory." He did just that on Friday night, scoring a game-high 40 points on 18 of 22 shooting, including an array of rim-rattling dunks, and grabbing 10 rebounds in 22 minutes to lead Team Chuck to a 163-135 win in the annual rookie/sophomore challenge.

Faried came out of the gate energetic and aggressive, scoring 19 points on 11 shots in the first half, and even occasionally trying hard on the defensive end — a standard for the Denver Nuggets power forward, a rarity in contests like this, which even prompted Team Shaq coach David Fizdale to, as TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager noted, call a timeout to discuss how to combat Faried's defensive disruption.

There was absolutely no defensive disruption during the game's final few minutes, when Faried and Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Dion Waiters took turns throwing down uncontested slam dunks as the other members of the two teams just moved off to the side of the floor to watch the show.

"Me and my team came out pretty much as focused," Faried told Sager after the game. "We wanted to get the win. We didn't want to go home with the loss.

"And we was worried about the 25K," he added, sniffing then smiling as he referenced the $25,000 bonus each player on the winning team in the game receives.

Kenneth Faried's looking to make his mark in the Rising Stars Challenge. (David Sherman/NBA/Getty Images)

HOUSTON — We're getting closer and closer to tipoff of the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend 2013, and the assembled media got a chance to chat with the players selected last week by "general managers" Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley during a Friday morning Q&A session. Because you're already going to be watching for how No. 1 overall picks Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis fare, and you already know that you love Ricky Rubio, here, quickly, are five other things you might find interesting/worth looking out for in the game:

• Kenneth Faried has won an All-Star MVP here before, and seems eager for another. Look it up — the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Reese's College All-Star Game back in 2011, after his time at Morehead State University and before he went to the Denver Nuggets with the 22nd overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He had 18 points and 17 rebounds to lead his West team to a 113-108 win at this very same Toyota Center; that team featured Cleveland Cavaliers sophomore Tristan Thompson, who will once again team with Faried in the frontcourt of Team Chuck. (He's also had a couple of big games in Houston as a Nugget, going for 16 and 11 in a win last March and 16 and 16 in a win back in November.)

For what it's worth, Faried sounded pretty confident that he's going to repeat his stellar performance on Friday, telling reporters that the best way to showcase what makes him special — his energy, his rebounding and his athleticism — is to "help lead my team to victory."

"We want to win, and we're going to win. We're going to win this game," Faried said. "So I'm not really worried about it. It matters, because I want to win each and every time I step on the court."

LeBron sees you, D-Rose. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

HOUSTON — During a question-and-answer session with reporters ahead of Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, Miami Heat star LeBron James offered public support for the notion that injured Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose shouldn't return to the court until he feels fully prepared to play.

In an interview published earlier this week, Rose — who has been sidelined since April after suffering a torn left ACL during the first game of the Bulls' 2012 Eastern Conference playoffs series against the Philadelphia 76ers — told USA TODAY's Jeff Zilgitt that he doesn't have a set date for his return:

"I'm not coming back until I'm 110%. Who knows when that can be? It can be within a couple of weeks. It could be next year. It could be any day. It could be any time. It's just that I'm not coming back until I'm ready."

The comments struck some — especially Chicago fans eager to see the 2011 NBA Most Valuable Player, who recently resumed taking contact in practice, give the Bulls a jolt that could lift them back to the top of the Central Division standings — as surprising, unwelcome and problematic. (Especially that "It could be next year" part.) The 2012 MVP, however, wasn't so troubled.

"I agree [with his comments]," James said during the Friday afternoon media session. "Derrick Rose basically said, 'If I'm not ready, if I don't feel like I'm ready to play, I don't mind sitting out the whole season.' He shouldn't be rushed back by nobody. Derrick Rose is his own man — this is Derrick Rose's career we're talking about. Nobody else's. Because if Derrick Rose comes back and gets injured again, Derrick Rose is the only people that's got to deal with that. He's an unbelievable talent. He's one of the best players that we've seen in this game and mentally when he's ready, physically he feels like he's ready, then he [should] make a comeback. Until then, he shouldn't rush it."

Don't get it twisted: Terrence Ross can fly. (Issac Baldizon/NBA/Getty Images)

When the six competitors in the 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend were announced last Thursday, the lion's share of NBA fans' attention went to the presence of Indiana Pacers wing Gerald Green, who won the 2007 competition and brought us the iconic "Birthday Cake" dunk the following year, and New York Knicks swingman James White, who's built a reputation as arguably the best dunker in the world over the past decade. Compared to Green and White, the third member of the Eastern Conference's dunk team — Toronto Raptors rookie Terrence Ross — has kind of flown under the radar, despite authoring some of this NBA season's finest in-game throwdowns. And apparently, that's just the way the 22-year-old shooting guard likes it.

BDL caught up with Ross via telephone on Tuesday before the Raptors' 109-108 win over the Denver Nuggets at the Air Canada Centre to talk about his preparation for Saturday night's dunk contest, unrealistic expectations, the element of surprise, "raw dunking type of experiences" and more.

Early in the second quarter of the Denver Nuggets' 109-108 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night — a game decided in the closing seconds by Rudy Gay's second game-winning basket in the last three games for the Canucks — Nuggets forward/longtime Internet cause célèbre Anthony Randolph missed a fast-break slam dunk. He was sad about it.

The best missed dunk face. (John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)