Thoughts on Fixing the NBA Dunk Contest
It appears a drastic change is in order, and many are thinking outside the box
I make it a point to watch the NBA Dunk Contest during All Star Weekend every year even though I know it is not going to be entertaining. It brings back fond memories - the hype, the spectacle, the pageantry, and the reactions of Kenny Smith and Shaq with his mouth gaped wide open in astonishment.
It used to be Def Comedy Jam meets Olympic freestyle ski jumping. Now it’s this perfunctory event that resembles a Chamber of Commerce banquet where they give an award to some guy who owns a flower shop.
It’s been ten years since the contest has been worth watching but I still tune in. It’s comforting and it brings back memories. Many people no longer enjoy seeing their families at Thanksgiving, but they go anyway, because it’s tradition.
This year’s contest was especially listless and embodied everything that has come to suck about the dunk contest. The biggest problem appears to be the completely indifferent crowd.
This is an all-day festival which incorporates random musical performances, and you tend to get the feeling that anyone who thought of it beforehand could have booked out the court for half an hour.
The crowd is tired. That’s a big problem. The obvious issue is that the novelty of dunking diminishes every year and until someone executes a backflip dunk we are going to be stuck with the sobering realization that these guys are only in the air for one second and there’s only so much they can do.
That’s why the pageantry element has come into play, to build up the anticipation of the dunks, and insert a creative element beyond simply the dunks themselves.
A new low was reached this year, when Jalen Green wore a necklace of a cellphone playing his own highlight videos, which garnered zero reaction from anyone in attendance, and Cole Anthony dunking in Timberland boots, which is perhaps the most ill-conceived idea an NBA player has had since the Gilbert Arenas locker-room incident.
The following are a few ideas I hashed out to improve the dunk contest.
1. Offer a million-dollar prize. An obvious issue with the dunk contest is that the league’s marquee players - meaning some of the best dunkers - don’t compete in it.
Let’s say that Ja Morant and Obi Toppin are equally good at dunking. It’s going to be more exciting if the well-known All Star is competing versus someone who is relatively obscure.
The current prize offered is $105,000. Most NBA players don’t really care about that, which is readily apparent, but everyone can use an extra million dollars, plus the million-dollar prize would provide some cachet and encourage more celebrated participants.
2. Incorporate some high-school, college, or even semi-pro dunkers. I don’t know exactly how this would work, but a non-NBA player is going to put in some exceptional effort for a shot at a million dollars.
Competing against non-professionals would clearly stoke the competitive spirit of the NBA guys, as they’d want to prove themselves.
Perhaps there could be two teams - NBA Players versus Other Guys. Each team has five dunkers.
3. Have a round where defense is incorporated. If you think about what makes a dunk exciting in a game, often times it’s that the player is dunking over a defender. Hence the phrase “dunked on.”
Let’s say there are three rounds of dunks: In one of the rounds bring out some oafish seven-footer such as Boban Marjanovic, or just a dorky looking volunteer from the audience, and have him stand inside the restricted-area and try and block the player from dunking.
This could maybe be a series of five dunks per dunker - resembling a shootout in hockey or soccer - which, while a clear bastardization of the sport, is exciting and well-received by audiences.
4. Allow the players to show videos of their dunks. If you watch Saturday Night Live, it’s enjoyable how the format incorporates videos between the live performances - commercial parodies, music videos, and shorts.
One of the rounds of the dunk contest could be the player showing a video of a dunk on the jumbo screen.
This would eliminate the tedious nature of the dunker failing at multiple attempts at his dunk, and allow for some of the artistic expression that has grown tiresome at this point.
The guys can pick the music they like and incorporate cinematography. They could hire Spike Lee to film it. They can actually get creative.
5. Bring out a springboard. This sounds ridiculous but hear me out: What if the dunkers could get an extra two feet of lift?
A trampoline is way too cartoonish and would cheapen the dunk contest beyond redemption - but a springboard is more of an enhancement for an already gifted athlete than a handout to someone who can’t already jump very high.
If you’ve ever messed around with one, they are incredibly fun. They can’t launch you ricocheting off the backboard or anything, but they can give you a noticeable explosive effect that makes you feel superhuman.
I’m confident that if my ideas are listened to that the dunk contest can be salvaged. As always, I will charge a minimal consulting fee to any suit who wishes to actually improve their product.