The NBA schedule just wrapped up its first half of the season, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are making our All-Star Game predictions for which man will beat the odds to win the MVP of the All-Star Game in Houston on Sunday night.

There really are only a handful of players that we think can legitimately win this award, and we would have no problem backing these four men that we are going to highlight against the field without hesitation. The man in the West that is going to be the most likely hero is the man that won the MVP award in the All-Star Game last year, Kevin Durant (Current All Star Game MVP Odds: 11 to 2 at Bovada Sportsbook). Durant never has fear putting the ball up, and he is one of the most respected shooters in the game. We’re inevitably going to see the Oklahoma City standout throw down some dunks and jack up tons of threes, and in the end, we expect to see him score somewhere in the neck of the woods of the 36 points that he had in last year’s game in Orlando to take the honor.

Next in line in the Western Conference is clearly going to be Kobe Bryant (Current Odds To Win All-Star Game MVP: 15 to 2 at Bovada Sportsbook). Kobe is the vet of this game, and he has made a tremendous habit out of being the man of the hour when push comes to shove. The argument could have been made last year for him to be the MVP of this game for the second straight season, as he scored 27 points and knocked down some huge shots. Bryant not only was the MVP in 2011, but he was the co-MVP in 2009 and the MVP in 2007. (For the record, Bryant won his first All-Star Game MVP award in 2002.) If you just keep following the “every other year” thing, Kobe could be in for a big time performance. If the Western Conference wins this game, it’s tough to see how either Durant or Bryant won’t ultimately win the MVP award.

List Of Past NBA All-Star Game MVPs (Since 2000)
2012 – Kevin Durant
2011 – Kobe Bryant
2010 – Dwyane Wade
2009 – Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant
2008 – LeBron James
2007 – Kobe Bryant
2006 – LeBron James
2005 – Allen Iverson
2004 – Shaquille O’Neal
2003 – Kevin Garnett
2002 – Kobe Bryant
2001 – Allen Iverson
2000 – Tim Duncan/Shaquille O’Neal

Shifting our attention to the Eastern Conference, it is clear again, that there should only be two teammates that have a chance at claiming glory. LeBron James (Up To Date All Star Game MVP Bettng Lines: 6 to 1 at Bovada Sportsbook) is the obvious choice. He scored 36 points in last year’s All-Star Game, and he would have been the MVP had he stepped up and knocked down the three-point shot at the end of the game instead of dishing it off and watching as a teammate failed at a last ditch effort instead. The bottom line with James right now is that he is on such remarkable fire, it’s not even funny. He has seven straight games with at least 30 points scored, and he is shooting the daylights out of the basketball. If the basket keeps looking like a beach ball could fit through it, we wouldn’t put it beyond James to put up 40, or even maybe 50 points in this one in spite of the fact that his teammates are inevitably going to have to score a ton of points as well.

With Head Coach Erik Spoelstra calling the shots though, we know that we have to give at least a little bit of play to Dwyane Wade (All-Star Game MVP Odds: 12 to 1 at Bovada Sportsbook). There are others such as the hometown hero, James Harden and Russell Westbrook that have a shot on the Western Conference team, but if Carmelo Anthony really is slowed by a hand injury or cannot play in the game, we just don’t know where the scoring is coming from on the Eastern Conference team. Last season in the All-Star Game, Wade almost quietly had a triple-double in defeat, putting up 24 points, 10 boards, and 10 assists. He has the ability to do it all, just like LeBron does. We really do believe that a split MVP would be about as good of a chance as Wade has against his teammate from South Beach, but we still think that there has to be better than a one in 12 chance that the man from Marquette walks away with the MVP trophy from this game in the Lone Star State.

Odds to Win 2013 All Star Game MVP @ Bovada Sportsbook (as of 2/14/13):
(Get a HUGE 50% Bonus at Bovada.lv When Using This Link)
Kevin Durant 11 to 2
LeBron James 6 to 1
Kobe Bryant 15 to 2
Blake Griffin 14 to 1
Carmelo Anthony 9 to 1
Dwyane Wade 12 to 1
Chris Paul 15 to 1
James Harden 9 to 1
Kyrie Irving 15 to 1
Dwight Howard 18 to 1
Russell Westbrook 18 to 1
Kevin Garnett 20 to 1
Tony Parker 20 to 1
Jrue Holiday 25 to 1
Brook Lopez 25 to 1
LaMarcus Aldridge 25 to 1
Chris Bosh 30 to 1
Paul George 35 to 1
Zach Randolph 35 to 1
David Lee 45 to 1
Luol Deng 45 to 1
Tyson Chandler 50 to 1
Joakim Noah 50 to 1
Tim Duncan 60 to 1

The 2013 NBA Dunk Contest odds are posted all over the internet. This isn’t quite the spectacle that it once was when some of the biggest stars of the game were partaking in the event, but it is still one that we think is quite intriguing and has some great NBA betting possibilities. Join us today, as we analyze the 2013 NBA Slam Dunk Contest field and the dunk competition odds at this weekend’s All-Star Game.

2013 All Star NBA Dunk Contest Picks & Info
2013 NBA Dunk Contest Date/Time: Saturday, February 16th, 2013, 8:00 (ET)
2013 NBA Dunk Contest Location: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
2013 NBA Dunk Contest TV Coverage – Network: TNT

The favorite to win the dunk competition is little used New York Knicks’ James White (Slam Dunk Contest Odds: 5 to 4 @ Bovada Sportsbook). White was out of the NBA for a few years and was mired in the D-League, but now, he is back with New York and is averaging right around six minutes per game… when he gets on the court. He has only been active in 34 games on the campaign. Of course, this is a man that is talking big from the Big Apple, as he says that he has “five dunks that will get a 50.” Those are big words from a man who is just a 6’7″ guard/forward without all that much of an NBA career. We do give this much to White, though. At least he was a Rocket once upon a time in the 2008-09 season, and that can’t hurt his cause.

Next comes a man who claims that no one really “know what I’m capable of,” the Toronto Raptors’ Terrence Ross (Odds to Win the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest: 7 to 2 @ Bovada Sportsbook). We do know that Ross can jump out of the building, and we know that this is his biggest moment thus far in his professional career. Ross is only playing around 17 minutes per game for the Raptors, but at least he is a reasonable contributor. He’s averaging 6.4 points per game. Of course, he only has a handful of dunks on the season and isn’t necessarily known as a dunker, which is why people are really doubting what his abilities really are at the rack.

List Of Past NBA Slam Dunk Contest Winners
2012 – Jeremy Evans
2011 – Blake Griffin
2010 – Nate Robinson
2009 – Nate Robinson
2008 – Dwight Howard
2007 – Gerald Green
2006 – Nate Robinson
2005 – Josh Smith
2004 – Fred Jones
2003 – Jason Richardson
2002 – Jason Richardson
2001 – Desmond Mason
2000 – Vince Carter
1997 – Kobe Bryant
1996 – Brent Barry
1995 – Harold Miner
1994 – Isaiah Rider
1993 – Harold Miner
1992 – Cedric Ceballos
1991 – Dee Brown
1990 – Dominique Wilkins
1989 – Kenny Walker
1988 – Michael Jordan
1987 – Michael Jordan
1986 – Spud Webb
1985 – Dominique Wilkins
1984 – Larry Nance

Gerald Green (2013 Slam Dunk Odds: 4 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook) is up next at 4 to 1. We have seen Green throw down his share of dunks in his career, like this shot at the top of this article when he was with the Boston Celtics. This is his first chance to shine right now on this type of stage, and he is going to be representing his newest team, the Indiana Pacers. Green is only good for 6.6 points per game this year and is used in a reserve role for sure, but he is going to be a very interesting man to try to watch in this competition.

No one could convince the actual LeBron James to join the NBA Dunk Contest, so instead, the competition got the man known as “Mini LeBron,” Eric Bledsoe (Odds to Win the Slam Dunk Contest: 5 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook) of the Los Angeles Clippers. Bledsoe is clearly the best player of the bunch this year, but this isn’t a competition that is won and lost by great players. It’s won and lost by the flashiest man in the bunch. At just 6’1″, Bledsoe is clearly the smallest man in the competition. It worked for Nate Robinson for all those years though, and it certainly could be the factor that gets Bledsoe the crown as well. Of the six men in the slam dunk contest, Bledsoe is probably the one that we would want to back the most with the most value.

The biggest man with the most dunks on the campaign of all of the competitors is one of the two top underdogs as well. The Denver Nuggets are sending Kenneth Faried (Dunk Contest Odds: 8 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook) to the All-Star Game to be a part of the dunk contest, and for good reason. The man from Morehead State has really thrown down some massive dunks in his day, and he can absolutely leap out of a building. If anyone is going to be able to replicate some of the dunks that Dwight Howard has had from his days in the dunk contest, Faried is the man to do it. Faried ranks sixth in the NBA this year with 90 total dunks, and that experience should come in handy.

What’s most interesting is that the man that is the defending champion of this event, Jeremy Evans (Jeremy Evans Dunk Competition Odds: 8 to 1 @ Bovada Sportsbook) is tied as the longest shot on the board in this contest. He is the only man with any dunk contest experience, and he won the honor last year as a late entry in place of Iman Shumpert. Evans was the biggest underdog on the board last year as well though, and there is no doubt that he is going to be the man that has his eye on the prize in the biggest of ways. He threw down some awesome jams last year, and we can’t wait to see what he has in store this season.

2013 Slam Dunk Contest Odds @ Bovada.lv (as of 2/14/13):
(Get a HUGE $100 Free Bet at Bovada When Using This Link)
James White (New York Knicks) 5 to 4
Terrence Ross (Toronto Raptors) 7 to 2
Gerald Green (Indiana Pacers) 4 to 1
Eric Bledsoe (Los Angeles Clippers) 5 to 1
Jeremy Evans (Utah Jazz) 8 to 1
Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets) 8 to 1