The NBA Slam Dunk Contest used to be the highlight of All-Star weekend. With superstars like Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, Spud Webb, Kobe Bryant, and Vince Carter, fans couldn’t wait to see the biggest stars show off their athleticism and creativeness. Unfortunately the past decade has been filled with yawn inducing snoozers that rarely feature the top players in the league. So I pose the question to you:
Is the Dunk Contest Dead?
If asked this question two years ago I would've screamed yes from the mountain top. They changed the format into a silly East vs. West showdown where John Wall and the East came out on top. With out a Google search I could not tell you one person on the West team mainly because the whole event was pretty…well boring.
The dunk contest had hit rock bottom and we didn't know who to blame for the dunk contest fails. Was it the NBA for changing the rules each year? Was it the players just not taking the event seriously? Or the popular opinion the stars like LeBron James who for some reason refused to even enter the contest? I doubt anyone has the answer.
But to the joy of dunk contest fans everywhere, this year rookie guard Zach LaVine finally gave us something to cheer about. He wowed the crowd with Space Jam tributes and creative dunks we haven't seen before. He made the event fun again. Thanks to LaVine we didn't have to hear radio personalities scream and yell for the NBA to take the dunk contest off the All-Star weekend schedule. Thanks to LaVine there’s hope for future dunk contests.
But what of the future? Is this years dunk contest and LaVine’s performance just a blip on the radar? I’m predicting a decent stretch of dunk contests for the next five or so years. These athletes are only getting more athletic and hopefully LaVine’s performance and rise in popularity will spark players like his teammate Andrew Wiggins to compete in the next couple contests.
Even if stars like James, Wiggins, and others still shy away from the contest for fear of “Getting hurt” or losing, there are a new group of high flyers ready to put their stamp on basketball. Even though there’s no guarentee that guys like Kwe Parker, Corey Sanders, Antonio Blakeney, Seventh Woods, etc. will make it to the NBA, one can only consider the possibilities. But until then I leave you with the four players I would like to see compete in next years dunk competition.
1. Zach LaVine the reigning champ has to come back and defend his title. We all want to see what he can do with a whole year to prepare…scary I know.
2. His teammate and fellow high flyer Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins is silly athletic not sure if he’ll bring the creativity but it sure would be fun to see what he does with and empty paint.
3. Russell Westbrook can fly and doesn't like losing he’d defiantly bring the passion back to the event.
4. Who else? LeBron James, has yet to compete in a dunk contest. We don't care if you win LeBron, we just want to see a good show at the end of the day.