- CLUTCH Summary: New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is a player everyone wants to see in the Slam Dunk Contest.
- Many fans have grown tired of the Slam Dunk Contest over the years, especially with the lack of star players being involved.
- Williamson enters the NBA as the most hyped player since LeBron James, specifically for his ability to soar, providing hope he can save the wayward All-Star Weekend event.
The long-storied Slam Dunk Contest has been one of the NBA's biggest events in its recent history, but has lost plenty of steam in the past few seasons with a lack of recognizable faces and a competitive nature that is lacking in the midst of a camaraderie-led league. Zion Williamson, a player with generational talent and ups like few others in league history, could change the scope in which the contest is viewed today, able to bring the flair and thunder the All-Star Weekend has long needed on Saturday's focal competition.
But is Zion enough to officially bring a left-for-dead contest back to life?
The answer is not so simple.
It's not a lone man's job
Williamson can surely throw down with the best of them, and his 6-foot-7, 285-pound frame hasn't proven to be a deterrent to his aerial feats or his ability to soar in ways very few other players can. Zion combines the devastating power of the likes of Dominique Wilkins while bringing the merciless approach of The Reign Man himself, Shawn Kemp.
It's that ferociousness and reckless abandon that make his soul-crushing dunks so eye-catching and reel-worthy.
Williamson dominated the high school dunk contest during the Powerade Jam Fest only a year ago, but hardly anyone remembers it. Why? It just wasn't a very memorable one.
Fans would be hard-pressed to name another contestant from that event, because Williamson was just so above-and-beyond better than the rest of his high school peers.
The same is true in the NBA, pairing Williamson with an unworthy cast could make this a cakewalk and make the contest part of the Slam Dunk Contest a mere afterthought. The New Orleans Pelicans forward will need to be at least challenged in some way by another player that could give him a run for his money.
As soon as Williamson declares for the contest (if he does), it will be his to lose — but there will need to be another aspirant that can play the role of heel and threaten to snatch away the crown so many are willing to give him.
No props, no frills
The NBA All-Star Weekend has always had a draw, due to the names that often attend, but the dunk contest has turned into a prop-prepping, retro-jersey-wearing talent show; taking away the most important part of it — dunking.
Zion has enough dunks in his bag to impress those watching the show, but it will be up to the NBA to propose a level-playing field in which the participants put the zooming lens on the dunk, rather than the prop or their rendition of a popular dunk from yesteryear.
Some of the best dunks in contest history have been creative and sometimes even become iconic — a lot of that stemming from their simplicity and the lack of an Evel Kneivel-esque stage preparation.
Michael Jordan's and Julius Erving's free-throw line dunk, Vince Carter's between the legs, Jason Richardson's reverse windmill, and even Aaron Gordon's around-the-legs dunk, which has since become popular among high schoolers — all of them are simple in concept, yet fantastic in execution.
Doing more with less is definitely a formula the NBA should adopt moving forward, as there's been a massive wave of props and tributes that have taken the focus away from the art that is the dunk.
Compensation must be better, way better
If you're wondering why more notable names don't join the competition, a lot of it can be boiled down to the poor compensation players receive. As of last year, a Slam Dunk Contest winner only earns $105,000 in addition to the trophy (as detailed in the latest version of the collective bargaining agreement) — a minuscule reward for what it's likely a week or more in planning and practicing the dunks he will throw down at the biggest stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n149A07c-c
Williamson will make a beefy $9.7 million in his first year in the league, so the compensation must be at least tenfold of what the NBA was previously rewarding players with to be worth his while. Teammate Jaxson Hayes, another high-riser, will make $4.8 million while others like OKC's Darius Bazley will make $2.3 million in his first year. Earning at least $1 million in this event can be enough to motivate others to take part in the contest. Even Zion earning a tenth of his full-season salary in one day of air-defying throwdowns can be the right pot sweetener to entice these young players to enter.
Older players are a lot more career-savvy and will rather watch than wear out their legs, even if they have the chops to come out a winner, but rookies and players that are in their rookie contracts will be chomping at the bit to add a little more bread to their wallet.
To bring the Slam Dunk Contest back to life, the NBA must start by paying their players the right coin for their exploits, and while Zion Williamson has the potential to propel it to greater heights, the rest of the show should be just as worthy of viewership.
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