The Give and Go: The Slam Dunk Contest is Back!

Vincent Lamar Carter, 2000 Slam Dunk Contest

The Give and Go is a quick back and forth between Paul Mitchell and Chris St. Jean about a relevant subject in the NBA at that moment.

Paul: The NBA’s Dunk Contest might not suck this year. Assuming the NBA doesn’t bring back the Dunk Wheel or Nate Robinson, the 2015 event should be entertaining, with a nice crew of young and exciting athletes (or is it ath-a-letes?) set to throw down dunks February 14 at the Barclays Center.

What are your thoughts on this year’s crop of dunkers?

What’s your ideal rotation of hypothetical Dunk Contest participants (of players currently in the NBA)?

Can Jason Richardson still dunk?

And how many times will we hear “the Dunk Contest is BACK!” on Feb. 14, between Kenny Smith, Reggie Miller (UGH), and Kevin Harlan?

Chris: Wait a second. The Dunk Wheel was in 2002? 13 years ago? God I’m old.  

People have been complaining about the dunk contest as long as you and I have been watching it (which is apparently way longer than we want to admit) and that came to a crescendo last season when John Wall won the most confusing Dunk Contest of all time.

The NBA has come to its senses and realized… Haters gonna Hate. One of the biggest issues the NBA runs into is that casual fans, or people who don’t watch the NBA, end up watching the Slam Dunk Contest, throwing up their hands, and saying, ‘What’s the big deal?’. You can’t compete with that, so I’m glad to see the more ‘traditional’ format return catering to NBA diehards.

And speaking of NBA diehards, those are the only people who are going to know who Victor Oladipo, Zach Lavine, The Greek Freak, and Mason Plumlee are. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. While Gerald Green came from relative obscurity outside of Boston to put on a show, Blake Griffin and Dwight Howard may have ruffled a few feathers by making things more of a show than an athletic competition:



If I were looking for that special combination of athletic prowess and personality, I would include the following four:  

Russell Westbrook - Just for the mean mugs and looks of condemnation he would give the other opponents after throwing down another act of violence against the rim. Every great drama needs a villain.

John Wall - Always underrated athletically and as a dunker, and was wasted on that ridiculous format last season. He can defend his championship and be our leading man (who doesn’t like John Wall right now?).

Zach Lavine - Expectations are really high, but his relative anonymity and fresh face could help paint him as the underdog. Athletically, he matches up with anyone in the world. It remains to be seen what kind of showmanship he (and his teammate Andrew Wiggins) will be able to offer.

Victor Oladipo - Oladipo feels right, here. In his second season, Oladipo continues to improve and anyone who does a 360 dunk for the game-winning basket is ready for the dunk contest in my book. He’s the wildcard, both in my hypothetical situation and in the real contest.

You might be wondering, what about The Greek Freak and Mason Plumlee. Well, Mitchell, I’ll leave Plumlee for you to tackle since you’ve seen him more than me. I know he’s athletic, but dunk-contest-athletic? I guess we’ll find out. As for The Greek Freak, his length has mystified NBA junkies all season long, but I’m wondering how that translates to a dunk contest. I’m worried he may be a bit underwhelming as the NBA League Pass sweetheart. I know it’s blasphemy and hey, I sure hope I’m wrong.

Want to set me straight, Mitchell?

Paul: There’s no way that ridiculous Dunk Wheel concept was 13 years ago…

*goes on Google*

*gets depressed*

Wow…

For some reason I thought the Wheel came after the excruciating Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson Dunk Contests, but I might have repressed those memories after guys like Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith, and Gerald Green lost out to green sneakers and prop phone booths.

For that matter, I don’t want to see Blake Griffin or LeBron James in the 2015 Dunk Contest. Blake’s lone appearance was great for his brand and endorsement opportunities and LeBron has been basically begged to enter every season since he entered the league in 2003, but for all of their physical abilities, I’m not sure if they have the same creativity as former dunk champions like Jason Richardson or Vince Carter. Kind of like the big-man issue, where power and vertical numbers aren’t as impressive as agility and originality in these events.

We all know the Dunk Contest is a joke, more meant for minors than for diehard hoop heads, but unlike other events like the Home Run Derby or whatever it is that the NFL or NHL do, the Slam Dunk Contest offers insane amounts of athleticism but also the possibility of seeing something we’ve never witnessed before. Jumping over a Kia was a cool concept that made for a great text alert (“OMGZ BLAKE’S BRINGING OUT THE CAR!”) but dunks like Vince Carter’s elbow or Andre Iguodala’s alley-oop off the back of the backboard were original ideas that were tough to describe in a single sentence. Every year during the telecast there’s a strong counter-narrative to the “The Dunk Contest is back!” point; that we’ve seen almost every type of dunk already. If that’s true then end the event now, but I’m excited to see what some of the NBA’s young guns can come up with on February 14.

If the NBA is unable to recruit legitimate All Stars into the Dunk Contest, then inviting future All Stars is a nice strategy. There is no Jeremy Evans this year; instead all four participants are rotation players on teams that range from (mostly) awful to average. Everybody but Zach LaVine have already played large roles this season, and the spotlight will be good exposure for the NBA’s up-and-coming class of talent.

Personally, I’d prefer to expand the Dunk Contest field to double-digit entries, where a missed dunk or two won’t ruin the entire event. Integrate the guys from the Developmental League, make it a bracket, and scatter the rounds throughout the evening, as incentive to actually watch the 3-Ball competition or the Skills Challenge. If we can’t get the elite-level of NBA talent involved, let’s give the young kids a chance to shine.

I can still remember the buzz at high school the Monday after the Vince Carter/Steve Francis finale in the 2000 contest, or me and all of my friends trying (and failing) to pull off the Jason Williams around-the-back, off-the-elbow pass on the fast break. It’s an exhibition, but considering the awful quality of basketball in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, those moments were crucial to my younger self appreciating (and being in awe of) the game of basketball.

In compiling my own list of dunk participants in 2015, I’ll try to pick some different names than you did. LaVine and ‘Dipo would probably be my first two selections for this format, but the league is so stacked in quality, young athletes that I’ll still be able to put together a nice list of dunkers.

Andrew Wiggins - You want LaVine, the “Human Vine Reel”? Fine, I’ll take his future-Rookie of the Year teammate and draw the Canadian audience. Wiggins has been a dominant player on both sides of the ball for the Minnesota Timberwolves and checks all of the boxes that I need in my entrants: insane hops, huge wingspan, and a magnetic smile/personality.

Giannis Antetokounmpo - You mentioned he’s the League Pass sweetheart, as Giannis alters our understanding of basketball physics on an almost nightly basis. Milwaukee is one of the best stories of the season, despite losing Jabari Parker with an ACL tear, and The Greek Freak may have finally grown too large for the small bubble of League Pass and Basketball Twitter. It’s time that we share him with the rest of the NBA world.

Gerald Green - The resident old timer, at 29 years of age, GG remains maybe the most athletic basketball player I’ve ever seen. He’s blown out the candle and shown some innovation in his previous contest appearances, and will school the youngsters, as long as he doesn’t hit his head on the rim.

Anthony Davis - I wanted to go with a hoopster pick of another young player that’s not yet on the national radar, like a Ben McLemore, Aaron Gordon (who’s been hurt for Orlando), or Jerami Grant/K.J. McDaniels, but The Unibrow would be too nice to pass up. He might set the NBA’s PER record this year, and Andrew Wiggins and Giannis are maybe the only other players in the league who can match his reach and lanky arms. I’m not sure how creative Davis could get in a dunk contest setting, but I would like to see for myself.

Or we go with an All-Time Slam Dunk Contest, where we get Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, David Thompson, Julius Erving, Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, and Desmond Mason out of retirement (or close enough, in Vince or JRich’s cases) to compete, although I’m not sure if the NBA’s insurance plan would cover it.