It was ruined when the NBA shoehorned a Nate Robinson win over Andre Iguolada and everyone realized how much of a work it was. After that it became less a dunk contest and more of a "Look, here is a cape, here is a car".
Jordan was in his third year in the league, Nique made his 2nd all-star appearance in 1987. Neither of them were Air Jordan or the Human Highlight Reel until AFTER that contest. Same with Carter who was in his 2nd year when he decided to scrap all his dunks and go off the cuff and become Vinsanity.
Dominique competed 2 of his five times before he was al all star in 86, Drexler the same, Jason Richardson never made an all star team, Zach Lavine didn’t make one for six years until after his dunk contest wins. The vast history of the dunk contest is Proto-stars at best and never weres at worst.
They were incredible athletes, which the dunk contest requires. All-star was never a prerequisite. They were the best athletic, young guys in the league trying to stake a claim to fame and $. That hasn't changed. Older guys have too much to lose.
Sure I agree that the athleticism’s the key, I do think that the proliferation of large men takes a little bit away. The ideal dunk contest competitor is probably 22-25 and 6-7 or under.
I think there’s something to the commercial/dystopian nature of it. Plus, ASW is sort of a massive marketing weekend in general - guys have a gajillion off court commitments, wasn’t the case for ASW back in the day.
someone you respect wrote a great feature about this today, specifically debunking the thinking that the dunk contest ever had stars in it (or athletes when they were considered the stars they became)
I don’t think it needs to be stars. In fact, I like that guys like Jason Richardson could elevate themselves in the event. Loved rooting for Knicks role players like Nate Robinson. I enjoyed your piece but McClung has played five NBA games. It doesn’t feel right.
love nate. and interesting, i wonder then where you draw the line between nba exposure and someone’s general effort? to me, nba athleticism is on par with g league considering the general day to day grind (off and on court) of the g league is really tough
i think the participants in an nba dunk contest should be active participants in nba basketball — that said, make it entertainment, say that there’s a past champion wildcard, or a spot for someone based on tiktok likes, whatever makes you hype for the competitors
I’d argue that’s also a result of aesthetic and over commercialization. It’s not Nique vs Mike in a cultural phenomenon anymore, it’s a dang extended cut Starry ad.
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