And therein lies the problem. People don't pay attention because they aren't seeing the best-of-the-best in what is one of the most fun spectacless in all of professional sports- when it's done right. The Slam Dunk Contest isn't going to be big again until we see LeBron James in it. He's the most high profile athlete in the NBA, and has yet to compete. Blake Griffin didn't even defend his title. Here's my ideal "NBA Slam Dunk Contest" lineup, if I had to make one right now. I want to see the best of the best:
LeBron James- He's easily the most athletic player in the NBA, and would bring the house down with his speed and power on his dunks.
Russell Westbrook- Arguably the fastest and most athletic guard in the NBA, Westbrook has no problem throwing down with creativity at any time.
Blake Griffin- As long as I reference Lob City, you should know what that encompasses. Blake Griffin is big, strong, and throws down with incredible force and does it regularly. He's a physical beast.
Josh Smith- J-Smoov needs to rep the ATL in a Slam Dunk Contest. He's one of the most athletic players in the NBA and can throw down with the best of them. He needs to redeem himself after his poor performance in the 2005 Slam Dunk Contest.
That's who I'd like to see, but it's just as much about the format of the contest as it is who is in it. This year, the NBA decided to take away the judges and make it a 100% fan vote. I don't know about the rest of you, but I liked seeing what the judges thought of the dunks. They set a sort of benchmark for the viewers to agree or disagree with, which made it a lot more fun to discuss and talk about as a fan.
The Slam Dunk Contest also repeatedly changed formats in the past few years. In 2007, each dunker had two dunks in the first round, with the two highest scoring dunkers moving to a final, where they had two more dunks, with the highest judged score as the champion. In 2008, the NBA completely shifted it's voting and put the champion in the fans hands. While I'm all for fan-voting, this was a bad decision in my opinion. It took away from the "expertise" that the judges possessed, and put it into the hands of fans who are swayed as much by presentation as they are the actual dunk.
This was evident in 2009 when Nate Robinson beat out Dwight Howard despite Dwight's perfect scores in the first round and an awesome one handed jam off the side of the backboard. Robinson dunked "over" Howard for his final dunk, pushing off of his back and bending Howard forward. However, the fans were swayed by "the short guy" and picked Robinson, who's night wasn't nearly as impressive. I'm all for a return of the judges and omitting a fan vote.
The current format of the Slam Dunk Contest allows for repeated misses on attempts. I get tired of seeing the same dunk attempt where the competitor keeps missing over and over again; the dunk loses it's luster, even if they do final get it in. The Slam Dunk Contest used to make for competitors with much more precision, making the dunks more fun to watch and more impressive. Let's go back to the "miss it and you're done" format. Make it, or sit down.
Lastly, the dunk contest has now become just as much about before the dunk presentation as the dunk itself. Last I checked, it's called the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, not the NBA Before the Slam Dunk Contest. Blake Griffin, I'm looking at you. I don't need a show choir to hype your dunk over a car up any more. It wasn't even that impressive. Show me something more creative than catching an oop and putting it in. At least get a windmill in or something. I want to see creative.
The NBA needs to look back at what made it's slam dunk contests fun to watch in the first place:
1) Superstars competing against other superstars
2) Simple voting by a knowledgeable panel
3) No repeat dunk attempts
4) Making it about the dunk, not the presentation.
Once we see these return, I think people will actually start caring about one of the most fun spectacles to witness in pro sports.
No comments:
Post a Comment