The NBA All-Star Dunk Contest should take Vince Carter’s advice
This year the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest will feature Jeremy Evans, Chase Budinger, Derrick Williams, and Paul George. While these guys are good young players, nobody wants to see them. I thought the point of the dunk contest was star power? What casual sports fan knows these people? Paul George could be working at Safeway, and the only thing you would do complain about how thick he sliced your meat. Inevitably you’ll talk yourself into tuning in to see what will happen. However as soon as you see somebody introduces a choir while jumping over the local Boys & Girls Club you’ll think, “What the hell am I doing? I need to put down this Coke and start making better decisions.” Now it may sound like I’m against the dunk contest, but that’s not the case. As a matter of fact I love the dunk contest. I will watch any kind of dunk contest as long as the best individuals at that level are competing. However in the NBA we’re at the point where the starts don’t compete in the dunk contest, and I think it’s time to shut it down (Dirk Nowitzki style).
I’m not the type of person that thinks much about sentimentality, but the history of the dunk contest means something for the NBA. The dunk contest is a symbol of the roots of the NBA. After the merger, the NBA adopted the contest as a superstar showcase event. The contest grabbed the attention of casual fans and single handedly made All-Star Weekend (also known as “Black Thanksgiving”) an event. However over the last
10 years the NBA Dunk Contest has waned in popularity, and they can only get low-level stars to participate. Consequently we’re stuck with a bastardized contest that only gets attention when someone rolls out a Kia.
So maybe it’s time for the Dunk Contest to come to the end!
Maybe Vince Carter really did shut down the dunk contest in 2000 when he took the ball through his legs, and then mouthed the words, “It’s Over.” We should have paid attention when to Vinsanity the Oracle, because if he knows anything. He knows when to shut it down (During a Toronto Raptors game style). As much we I would like to disagree with him, I can’t. Dude is right. This contest has served its purpose of growing the NBA. Now it should be over (Vince style), and instead of killing it slowly with bastardized version of what it used to be. Let’s put it in a fine basketball like wine cellar, full of past treasures of the game. I’m sure there’s a spot between the ABA multi-colored ball and those John Stockton style shorts.
Editor-in-Chief of Comedic Prose
Follow Kortney Williams on Twitter @kortneyshane