CityOfAngels

This is a time where the NBA is supposed to get creative, and they have failed miserably. Look at the lineup:

Chris Anderson - Out of Community College. Failed last year.
Amare Stoudemire - Out of Community College. Failed two years ago.
J.R. Smith - Out of high school. On the crappiest team this year. Last name is Smith.
Josh Smith - Out of high school. On the arguably second-crappiest team this year. Last name is Smith.

Where's the creativity? They have two guys named Smith who came out of high school, two past-failures who both came out of community college, absolutely no actual post-NCAA talent whatsoever, and they don't even have the defending champion, Fred Jones. To top it all off, neither LeBron, Wade, or Carmelo are in it, which are three players that would make up an amazing contest even with just those three players participating.

They really need to expand the contest; make it take half a day. There are just waaaay too many players who have mad hops that don't get recognized in the contest, and the ones who are currently being recognized don't even belong there.

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degrawj

you basically said everything i've been thinking. the slam dunk contest has become a joke. a waste of time. i was too young back in the day when Jordan, Dominique, and Webb were dunking. and then it just went down hill. but then, there was a rebirth! or so i had hoped. Vince Carter literally EXPLODED onto the scene and showed us dunks that i had never even imagined. not only that, but the way he did them, so flawlessly, so beautiful. after that, i was hoping that the dunk contest was back! WRONG! each year since then has been a failure. the real dunk artists aren't willing to compete in the event. what i don't understand is why? it's basically free publicity. even i bought into the VC hype after the dunk contest. hell, i even have an authentic NBA jersey of his. without Lebron or Vince, this is just a waste of time. the really sad thing though, is that i'll still watch it. just so i can see how bad it sucks.

present_future

Just to clarify, Amare Stoudemire went pro right after high school. Other than that though, I agree 100%. We need to have more high profile players in the event.

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zhevek

I want more VINSANITY!

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Palamidian

I completely agree with almost all of this; I really want to see Lebron face off someone like VC or Tmac in a dunk fest. But at the same time I dont think all the Stoudamire bashing is necessary, damn near all he can do is dunk. I'm fairly excited about seeing Amare, but the rest is pretty much a joke.

lk_3000

The dunk contest has lost its magic. the dunks in streetball on ESPN are way better. I'm actually looking forward to the shooting contest. its more entertaining and exciting than the dunk contest.

Halx

Come on.. give Chris Anderson some credit.
If he makes his dunks, I guarantee you he will win.

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goddfather40

Ideal dunk contest:
LeBron
Kobe
DWade
Vince
TMac

LeBron would probably win.

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Halx

I do agree with that. Take T-Mac off the list though.. he doesn't do it for me dunk-wise.

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lyxo

I think these guys will do a pretty good job creativity wise. It's not easy being in the contest. Everything's nearly been done, it's hard coming up with something new.

LeBron didn't want to participate, I think he has "flu-like symptoms" now, so cross him out. But really though, I don't think he'd suit up well for the contest. He's the best in-game dunker, hands down. But if you look at all his dunks... his breakaways are always the same tomahawk, then he has an alley-oop, which is pretty bread/butter. He doesn't have that finesse that VC or Jordan had, just yet. Although that tomahawk reverse against the.. Knicks I think was pretty damn nasty.

Other guys mentioned... Dwade? Melo? All for the media hype, but does nothing for the contest. These guys are scorers, but they're not really dunkers. They are able to perform one, but not to the calibur of those that should be in the contest.

Now you bash the Smiths.. Amare, Anderson.. I'd cross out Chris Anderson from the list, he disappointed me last year and I don't see it getting any better. Amare is a monster dunker, he'll bring high-energy dunks to the table.

Josh Smith is an outstanding athlete that knows exactly how to slam it down. He has young legs and will be able to throw in a creative mix somehow. Don't bash him because of his record. It's an individual contest, has nothing to do with the team.

degrawj

i'm with ya there halx. Chris Anderson is a VERY capable and underrated dunker. i picked him to win the competition on ESPN's little voting thing. but like you said, he just has to make his dunks.

Dingo2879

I just read who is going to participate in this year's dunk contest and I'm not dissapointed with any of them, but what I am amazed by is that there is only 4 of them. Is that normal? Just 4 people? My memory might not be that good but I do not remember a dunk contest only having 4 people in it.. That's amazing to me.

Jesus Malverde

LeBron has a pretty good excuse, if you are trying crazy dunks you might land the wrong way, and it would be worse for him landing on a touchy ankle.

Maybe the guys who don't participate in the dunk contest are afraid they are going to lose or have crappy dunks. A lot of these dudes have big egos, and they would rather not participate than look silly when they miss a dunk, even though it's not even a big deal. It's probably also harder to come up with new dunks these days, unless you want to take off from the three point line or something.

The dunk contest used to be what I looked forward to the most, but now I don't even know what time its on.

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Cowman

What does your university education have to do with the creativity you have dunking a basketball?

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buclao

He's got a point there

1slOwCD8

Well this dunk contest has gotten interesting. Its taken Chris Andersen 15 tries to get 2 dunks down, but i must say that Amare Stoudemire dunk off of Steve Nash's head was awesome.

pacaveli

the sitting martin was fuckin crazy, never seen anything like it, the dunks from steve nash were nice, but would of been much better if they would of made it on the first try.

i wanna see this next year

Vince Carter
Kobe Bryant
Josh Smith
Jason Richardson
and
LeBron James



and i think next year, someone will stick their arm, whole are, in the hoop. At least i hope it happens

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heccubusiv

We need LeBron to win it, if he does a front flip in the dunt contest he will be the best player of all time

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DJ Happy

6-10 players shouldn't be in the dunk contest. Of course they can dunk big - they're fucking huge! 6-7 should be the limit. For me, the best contests have been when the little guys are in it. Now Dee Brown, he could really dunk, and Spud Webb.........damn!

uncle_el

interesting take...
knock the guys who came straight out of high school, and those who went to community college...

only to say that lebron, a high school grad, should be in it
carmelo, one year of college, should be in it
wade, two years of college, should be in it...

agreed.

carter, 3 years of college...
jordan, 2 years of college...
wilkins, 2 years of college...
kobe, high school...

:shrug:

only got to see highlights of last night's contest... looks like josh smith put it down!

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lyxo

Still, this was a great contest. Josh Smith and Amare really put on a show. Chris Anderson didn't even belong in the contest.. poor guy.
The JR Smith behind the back is extremely difficult, b/c he performed it mid-air, not on the ground like Dr. J did.

They need to change around the rules still though. I don't like the 3yr rule. And kudos to having good judges this year around, people that actually know how to dunk and know the degree of difficulty.

Cross-Over

I don't like the new rule of attempting a dunk as many times as it takes to land it. Maybe increase the allowed missed dunks by one or two, but watching Chris Anderson and has 3/4 court pass over and over was mind numbing.

Josh Smith definitely had a lot of creativity, and the athleticism to match that. I want to thank TNT for taking the camera off him and missing nearly all of his last slam-dunk in live action. Millions of people watching, and during the height of the event, they screwed it up.

heccubusiv

Amare Stoudemire had a pretty sweet dunk of the head of Steve Nash, that was pretty cool

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drakers

No one cares about the dunk contest anymore because it is unsual to see an original dunk. If it does happen everyone goes crazy because we always see the same old dunks.

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lyxo

Amare's dunk was pretty unique and sweet.

dX927

I'm not sure how I feel about requiring the participants to use another NBA player for a dunk. If they want to have someone help them then that's fine because it then makes it more interesting and unexpected. But to know that they're gonna bring another guy out there, makes it fall sorta flat.

renaldorick

I thought Josh Smith's tribute to Dominque was great. I think it helped really bring the dunk contest back. He was amazing - and for a young kid, that plays for the hawks no less, to pay respect to pretty much the guy who made the dunk contest what it is, was a true show of class. Like "lyko" i though Amare brought some unique flair and ingenuity to a previously tired form. I think the dunk contest will get better.

akdem

I can't believe how little credit some of you guys are giving Josh Smith. Before the contest, everyone only wanted to talk about how crappy the lineup looked. Well guess who's laughing now? The show put on by Amare and Josh was amazing. I must admit, I couldnt have predicted it, but I would at least admit I was wrong if I had been dissing them before the contest. You guys have to hand to 'em. They made that contest more interesting than it has been in years. I'll take Josh Smith over Vince Carter any day.

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maximusveritas

The thing is, I think most people would rather see a poor dunk contest with all the big names (Carter, Kobe, LeBron,etc.) than a great one with no-names in it. That way, they probably at least have someone to cheer for and it makes it more exciting for them.

WhosTajGray

First off with the exception of Wilkins, Spud, and Jordan, the entire all star festivities have always been a joke. Instead of the dunk contest they should have a tutorial on defense. Lets rid the 3 point guy, and put in a passing contest. God I hate the NBA. Such garbage.