CHARLOTTE — On Saturday night OKC’s Hamidou Diallo won the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest by jumping over Shaquille O’Neal, hooking his arm into the rim like Vince Carter and opening his jersey to show the Super Man logo. The crowd went nuts and it was pretty much a wrap. The problem is, that was the only dunk worth watching the entire night.
Boyz kept running up missing dunks, throwing the ball into the air trying to catch it, using silly props and people. It was a ridiculous. The Slam Dunk Contest used to be the most anticipated event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Boyz couldn’t wait to see what the players were going to come up with. Now it’s become a complete disaster and in my opinion should be scrapped from the weekend for lack of creativity.
Lance Nance Jr. won the first Dunk Contest in 1976 in Denver when it was held by the ABA. Then the ABA and NBA merged and the contest wasn’t held again until 1984 when Julius Erving won it. So technically Dr. J won the first NBA Slam Dunk Contest. It’s a darn shame that boyz are still doing many of the same dunks that Jordan and Dominique did in their legendary showdown in 1988 21 years later.
The problem is not the Dunk Contest itself, it’s the duns in it. Back in the day the best players in the league participated in it. You had Dr. J, Jordan, Dominique etc. They were the best dunkers in the league. Now you’ve got cats that the casual fan has never even hear of in it. Cats like LeBron, Kobe etc wouldn’t get in it in their prime.
Why isn’t duns like Young Russ (Russell Westbrook), Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine and LeBron wasn’t in the contest this year. They are the best dunkers in the league right now. So if they aren’t in the contest why have it?
It’s like having the 3-point contest without Steph Curry! What would be the point?
It’s 2019 and boyz are less creative than they were twenty plus years ago. In recent memory the only contest that was close to being incredible was when Zack LaVine won it battling with Aaron Gordon. Ole boy was NUTS with the-legs reverse, a behind-the-back slam in which he caught it in midair, a between-the-legs lefthanded dunk, and then he finished with a between-the-legs dunk as he caught it off the pole behind the backboard. However, Aaron Gordon sitting down in mid-air was the most incredible dun of all-time bruh. He should have won it on that dunk alone.
Those are the types of dunks we should be seeing more than 40 years after the contest’s inauguration. Cats running up throwing the ball into the air and missing the dunk three times is unacceptable. If you’ve got to do all of that you need to, in my Big Momma voice, “Go sit yo butt down somewhere.” Remember when Victor Oladipo got out there with the Black Panther mask on and couldn’t buy a dunk? Go sit yo butt down somewhere.
Did you see John Collins waste everybody’s time by bringing out a replica of the Wright Brothers “Wright Flyer Plane” put on the scarf, hat and goggles only to hit the darn plane trying to go up for the dunk? Go sit yo butt down somewhere.
The dun that won it did Vince Carter’s Elbow move and Dwight Howard’s Super Man stunt. Yes, I know that Dwight Howard stole the Super Man joint from Shaq but Shaq was never in the Dunk Contest.
Scrap the contest if boyz can’t come up with better material than that because it’s become terrible to watch. I see better dunks on Mix-Tapes by cats that can’t even sniff the NBA. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.