NBA All Star Dunk Contest: History and Future
It’s the that time again, NBA All Star festivities, we have the
Rookie versus Sophomore game, Three Point Shootout, Skills Competition and the
All-Star game its self. Out of all of those things, The Dunk Contest is what gets people excited.
The very first slam dunk
contest was won by Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers at the 1976 ABA All-Star Game. Now over the years we have had some great moments I the dunk contest, legends have been made in this contest.
1986 Atlanta Hawk Spud Webb made history when he defeated Dominique Wilkin. Standing a mere 5 feet 7 inches tall, Webb became the shortest player ever to win the contest, a distinction that he still holds.
Chicago's Michael Jordan won back-to-back dunk contest victories in 1987 and 1988.
Harold Miner was a standout in 1993, winning the contest with a reverse power dunk, reaching between his legs and down to his feet in mid-air before sending the ball down.
In 1994 and 1997 respectively, Isaiah Rider and Kobe Bryant won the contest. Rider would win with a spectacular, between-the-legs dunk.
Slam Dunk Contest back for the 2000 All-Star Weekend in Oakland, California, prove to be one of the most electrifying dunk contests in the league's history, featuring a great showdown between eventual winner Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors, his cousin and then-teammate Tracy McGrady, and the Houston Rockets' Steve Francis. Carter won after performing a number of very impressive dunks, including a reverse 360 windmill, a honey dip, and a between-the-legs dunk off of a bounced alley-oop from McGrady.
In 2005, the Slam Dunk Contest returned to its birthplace in Denver. Phoenix Suns' Amar'e Stoudamire alley-ooping 360 off a soccer-style header from teammate Steve Nash; J.R. Smith putting it around his back and dunking, and the new champion, Josh Smith alley-ooping over Kenyon Martin all wowed the crowd with their maneuvers.
In 2006, the Dunk Contest in Houston, Texas revitalized the interests of audiences as 5'9" Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks took the title with a great dunk-off. One of his most exciting dunks was a high-flying dunk over former Slam Dunk Contest winner, 5'7" Spud Webb. The 2006 Slam Dunk Contest was also the first Dunk Contest in history to have a "Dunk Off", the equivalent to a Dunk Contest overtime, between Knicks point guard Nate Robinson and shooting guard Andre Inguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 2007, the contest was held in Las Vegas. Judges for the event were all past winners: Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, Julius Erving, and Vince Carter. The title wastaken by the Boston Celtics' Gerald Green.
In 2008, the title was taken by Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. Howard's most noteworthy dunk came during the first round, his second dunk overall, when he took off his jersey to reveal a Superman shirt and cape.
Nate Robinson won the 2009 contest on February 14 in Phoenix, Arizona. The 5'9" guard dressed all in green as "Krypto-Nate" (a portmanteau of 'Nate' and Kryptonite) and jumped over 6'11" Dwight Howard characterized as Superman.
Nate Robinson won the 2010 contest on February 13 in Dallas, Texas. He is the first 3-time Slam Dunk champion. He defeated DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors in the final with 51% of the votes, compared to 49% for DeRozan. Blake Griffin won the 2011 slam dunk contest by jumping & dunking over a Kia Optima, on February 19 in Los Angeles, CA with 68% of the votes.
Now considering all this great history and moments, the dunk contest some would say is getting to the point where it isn’t entertaining anymore. I mean let’s be honest, there aren’t many dunks we haven’t seen, and short of severely injuring your body, there is nothing much people can do. Now I admit the 2011 NBA Dunk contest was semi impressive, the contestants and their coaches really tried to be creative, for example Javale McGee attempting to dunk 3 balls at once.
The first question is should we should stop the NBA Dunk Contest all together. I don’t think we should stop the dunk contest because at the end of the day the dunk contest is an event that showcases athletic ability and creativity. As far as how to make it better,
that’s still a mystery.
Second question is what we can do to make the NBA Dunk contest better. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the most athletic players try to dunk on each other. I mean let’s be honest, when we see a dunk on Sport Center, the dunk that gets us excited is when we see someone get dunked on or someone dunks over someone else. So having players like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Nate Robinson and more try to dunk on each other, but at the same time they can add creativity to their dunk.
Obviously as you can see, I am just coming up with ideas to make it better and to get the excitement back into the NBA Dunk Contest. I definitely look forward to All–Star Weekend and all the festivities.
Rookie versus Sophomore game, Three Point Shootout, Skills Competition and the
All-Star game its self. Out of all of those things, The Dunk Contest is what gets people excited.
The very first slam dunk
contest was won by Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers at the 1976 ABA All-Star Game. Now over the years we have had some great moments I the dunk contest, legends have been made in this contest.
1986 Atlanta Hawk Spud Webb made history when he defeated Dominique Wilkin. Standing a mere 5 feet 7 inches tall, Webb became the shortest player ever to win the contest, a distinction that he still holds.
Chicago's Michael Jordan won back-to-back dunk contest victories in 1987 and 1988.
Harold Miner was a standout in 1993, winning the contest with a reverse power dunk, reaching between his legs and down to his feet in mid-air before sending the ball down.
In 1994 and 1997 respectively, Isaiah Rider and Kobe Bryant won the contest. Rider would win with a spectacular, between-the-legs dunk.
Slam Dunk Contest back for the 2000 All-Star Weekend in Oakland, California, prove to be one of the most electrifying dunk contests in the league's history, featuring a great showdown between eventual winner Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors, his cousin and then-teammate Tracy McGrady, and the Houston Rockets' Steve Francis. Carter won after performing a number of very impressive dunks, including a reverse 360 windmill, a honey dip, and a between-the-legs dunk off of a bounced alley-oop from McGrady.
In 2005, the Slam Dunk Contest returned to its birthplace in Denver. Phoenix Suns' Amar'e Stoudamire alley-ooping 360 off a soccer-style header from teammate Steve Nash; J.R. Smith putting it around his back and dunking, and the new champion, Josh Smith alley-ooping over Kenyon Martin all wowed the crowd with their maneuvers.
In 2006, the Dunk Contest in Houston, Texas revitalized the interests of audiences as 5'9" Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks took the title with a great dunk-off. One of his most exciting dunks was a high-flying dunk over former Slam Dunk Contest winner, 5'7" Spud Webb. The 2006 Slam Dunk Contest was also the first Dunk Contest in history to have a "Dunk Off", the equivalent to a Dunk Contest overtime, between Knicks point guard Nate Robinson and shooting guard Andre Inguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 2007, the contest was held in Las Vegas. Judges for the event were all past winners: Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, Julius Erving, and Vince Carter. The title wastaken by the Boston Celtics' Gerald Green.
In 2008, the title was taken by Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. Howard's most noteworthy dunk came during the first round, his second dunk overall, when he took off his jersey to reveal a Superman shirt and cape.
Nate Robinson won the 2009 contest on February 14 in Phoenix, Arizona. The 5'9" guard dressed all in green as "Krypto-Nate" (a portmanteau of 'Nate' and Kryptonite) and jumped over 6'11" Dwight Howard characterized as Superman.
Nate Robinson won the 2010 contest on February 13 in Dallas, Texas. He is the first 3-time Slam Dunk champion. He defeated DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors in the final with 51% of the votes, compared to 49% for DeRozan. Blake Griffin won the 2011 slam dunk contest by jumping & dunking over a Kia Optima, on February 19 in Los Angeles, CA with 68% of the votes.
Now considering all this great history and moments, the dunk contest some would say is getting to the point where it isn’t entertaining anymore. I mean let’s be honest, there aren’t many dunks we haven’t seen, and short of severely injuring your body, there is nothing much people can do. Now I admit the 2011 NBA Dunk contest was semi impressive, the contestants and their coaches really tried to be creative, for example Javale McGee attempting to dunk 3 balls at once.
The first question is should we should stop the NBA Dunk Contest all together. I don’t think we should stop the dunk contest because at the end of the day the dunk contest is an event that showcases athletic ability and creativity. As far as how to make it better,
that’s still a mystery.
Second question is what we can do to make the NBA Dunk contest better. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the most athletic players try to dunk on each other. I mean let’s be honest, when we see a dunk on Sport Center, the dunk that gets us excited is when we see someone get dunked on or someone dunks over someone else. So having players like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Nate Robinson and more try to dunk on each other, but at the same time they can add creativity to their dunk.
Obviously as you can see, I am just coming up with ideas to make it better and to get the excitement back into the NBA Dunk Contest. I definitely look forward to All–Star Weekend and all the festivities.