The NBA Slam Dunk Contest Was Worse Than The D-League Dunk Contest. Again.

by Scott Schroeder on Feb 14, 2025 3:06 AM EST in All-Star Weekend 2010 Comment 7 comments

Dar Tucker dunking over 6-foot-11 (Not 7-foot) Brian Butch Friday night in the D-League Slam Dunk Contest. Photo: Joe Murphy/Getty Images/NBAE

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The NBA D-League's Slam Dunk Contest, for the second year in a row, was better than the NBA's version at least in my opinion... again.

Next year, the Saturday night's dunk contest should include the D-League dunk contest winner, the amateur dunk-off winner (or whatever they branded it as) and then an NBA representative (fan voting probably would be best).

Anyway, I've included video of all three dunk contests after the break, but wanted to know what you think.

Poll

So, what do you think?

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Read More: Shannon Brown (G - LAL), DeMar DeRozan (G - TOR), Gerald Wallace (F - CHA), Nate Robinson (G - NYK), Dar Tucker (F - DePaul)

Comments

I would like to see the best dunkers period, but we all know Stern ain't having that.

Air Up There is sick, though. Him, James White and that one dude from Canada are the illest dunkers I’ve seen in a minute, and that’s really what makes dunk contests (duh). The guys doing it in the NBA just aren’t dunkers (outside of Nate).

Until the starts get back into it like they did in the old days (mixed in with the young athletic dudes like Gerald Green et al), it will continue to be lame as hell.

I will say perhaps an emcee would help out, though. The reason those And 1 dunk contests are so interesting to the crowd is because an MC is narrating and keeping the crowd involved. There’s none of that in the NBA. Stern needs to holler at Duke Tango.

by Spider Jerusalem on Feb 14, 2025 3:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I don't know the Canadian dunker

but yes, it would be nice to have the best dunkers, period.
As far as an emcee goes, I don’t know that that would change all that much. It’d add to the excitement, but if the dunks aren’t exciting, I don’t think an emcee would help.

I blog at Ridiculous Upside. I know you'll love it.

by Scott Schroeder on Feb 14, 2025 6:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Henry Bekkering (had to look it up)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY_T7ITZEtI

Yeah, obviously the dunkers are the most crucial element, but having a hyped up crowd tends to inspire people to try crazier dunks. It’s just odd to have a dunk contest in such a huge venue, though (which is why the NCAA dunk contest and the D-league dunk contest are usually more exciting).

by Spider Jerusalem on Feb 15, 2025 4:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NBA dunk contest was the least entertaining IMO

I thought Derozan was good. Robinson’s height always makes his dunks look impressive, but I wouldn’t think twice about them if he were 6 inches taller. The others didn’t do much for me, which is too bad because I know Wallace and Brown can do better than that.

I like the idea of letting the other contest winners compete in the NBA contest. Maybe expand it to 6 total contestants to appease casual fans (though, do casual fans even know who Shannon Brown is?).

by richardhkirkando on Feb 14, 2025 5:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

True

I’m pretty sure we could’ve put Dar Tucker out there in his D-Fenders jersey in place of Shannon Brown and at least half the viewers wouldn’t have noticed anything wrong..

I blog at Ridiculous Upside. I know you'll love it.

by Scott Schroeder on Feb 14, 2025 6:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs