When was the last time you heard someone talk about a recent dunk contest? It feels like the answer is quite simple: never. For all the growth and expansion that the NBA has experienced over the years, it seems that the dunk contest has been the sole outlier, an aspect of the league that has shrunk in both influence and popularity over the past two decades. As much as the NBA brass would love to pretend that the dunk contest is just as exciting as ever, it’s pretty clear that the event has suffered a massive falloff. But how did the dunk contest get here? And how can it get out?
It’s important to mention that the dunk contest has not always been the snoozefest that fans consider it to be today. Back in the 1980’s, the dunk contest was one of the most anticipated moments of the entire basketball season and was the home of some absolutely legendary moments. Michael Jordan’s free throw-line dunk in 1987 might be the most famous photo in the history of basketball, and MJ’s 1988 dual with “Human Highlight Reel” Dominique Wilkins has gone down as one of the greatest battles in the history of sports. Ask any NBA old head about their favorite dunk contest moments, and you’ll surely be regaled with tales about 5’6” Spud Webb defying gravity and Dwight Howard literally turning into Superman. These moments represent the absolute peak of the dunk contest: when the event transcended the realm of sports and became a cultural phenomenon. Unfortunately, this heyday has become a mere memory.
These days, the excitement generated by the dunk contest has dwindled to a minimum. While it’s understandable that no one has achieved Jordan-level feats in recent years, it’s still pretty embarrassing when the most memorable dunk over the past five years might be Cole Anthony dunking in Timbs. Speaking of Anthony, his very presence in the dunk contest represents one of the main catalysts of its downfall — a complete lack of stars.
The days of basketball’s best risking injury for an ultimately meaningless competition are long gone. Nowadays, dunk contests comprise mostly of fringe NBA players who barely see any time in organized games. In fact, the winner of the last two dunk contests, Mac McClung, isn’t even in the NBA — he plays for the G League, the NBA’s minor league affiliate. McClung, as entertaining as his dunks are, represents the biggest failure of the dunk contest — he’s the face of the event, and he’s virtually unknown.
It seems that in today’s NBA almost every worthy player is guaranteed a “supermax” contract — a deal that allows teams the ability to pay a veteran star player up to 35% of the team’s salary cap for up to five years. These contracts are also eligible for up to an 8% escalation annually, basically giving a team the ability to pay their star more than any other club would give — an offer the player simply can’t refuse. Most recently, the Celtics signed 26-year-old shooting guard Jaylen Brown to a five-year $303.7 million contract. Good thing he signed on the dotted line with his right hand.
Beyond the ludicrous contracts, stars simply don’t want to get involved in All-Star events or the dunk contest because they simply have no reason to, likely driven by the fact that most player receive these life changing contracts. Though this exists in many other sports All-Star festivities, the NBA’s version is losing popularity at an alarming rate. True household names couldn’t care less about the small bonus money to be made via participation, so they effectively have no reason to risk injury partaking in events that nobody watches. The dunk contest may have suffered the most in this regard.
With all of these issues in mind, one could believe that the dunk contest is simply unsalvageable. However, history has shown us that this may not be the case. As it turns out, the dunk contest experienced a similar lull during the 1990’s. Stars didn’t want to participate in an event that was hemorrhaging viewership, and things got so bad that the NBA axed the event entirely in 1998 and 1999. However, the NBA brought the dunk contest back in 2000, this time ensuring that the event was laden with stars such as number two overall pick Steve Francis and phenom point guard Tracy McGrady. Also participating in the event was McGrady’s teammate in Vince Carter, who would win the dunk contest with one of the greatest showcases of athleticism in the history of sports.
The 2000 dunk contest would go down as the consensus greatest All-Star event in the history of the NBA, not for the players that it elevated, but rather for the superstars that elevated the event itself. Unfortunately, the NBA didn’t appear to get this message, as subsequent dunk contests would feature an inexplicable lack of stars, and — surprise, surprise — viewership careened once again.
The NBA has, quite bluntly, forgotten what made the dunk contest great in the first place. People don’t watch the dunk contest for intrinsic reasons — the event itself is practically meaningless. Rather, fans tune in to see superstars — like Jordan, Wilkins, and Carter — take the simple act of dunking a basketball and turn it into an art form.
One must wonder when the NBA will realize what fans realized years ago. Based on the fact that this year’s dunk contest finally featured an All-Star, the association may slowly be reaching a positive conclusion. We can only hope that the vision pioneered by past superstars is realized soon enough — it would surely create memories to last a lifetime.
Contact Mac Ribner and Ben Petteruti at ribner@oxy.edu and petteruti@oxy.edu
AMEN! maybe i should do something about this…
Quit playing all star game its boring and pathetic and isnt basketball anymore