Is the slam dunk contest dead?
Posted February 16, 2010 by Jenni Carlson
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Used to be, the best thing about NBA All-Star Weekend was the dunk contest.
No more.
The dunk contest last weekend was a dud. Nate Robinson won the title for the third time, and while it was cool to see the diminutive dude throw down the first time, the excitement is gone now. And it’s not just because of Robinson. He’s the last guy to blame for this.
Some say that the problem with the dunk contest is a lack of stars. While it’s true that it’d be fun to see LeBron and D-Wade and Dwight Howard and Kobe go after it, the problem with the dunk contest isn’t so much the lacking starpower. It’s the lacking creativity.
No more are we wowed by feats of athletic prowess. The players have ruined us by doing amazing things every night during games. We’ve seen the power. We’ve seen the leaping. None of it gets us going.
But seeing a guy slap a sticker of his face on the backboard? Or watching someone blow out a candle on a cupcake put on the rim? Or having a guy wear a Superman get up? That’s the kind of thing that makes the slam dunk contest great now.
The creativity is dead, and so is the slam dunk contest.
If the NBA is serious about resituating it, it has to take action. The best players need to be involved because if you get a bunch of the top guys in the business in the contest, they’re more likely to bring their A games.
COLUMNIST
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Jenni Carlson, a sports columnist at The Oklahoman since 1999, came by her love of sports honestly. She grew up in a sports-loving family in...
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