The NBA has a Slam Dunk Contest problem, but you surely were already aware of that. This isn't the first day-after-the-dunk-contest article that has been written about the dire state of what was once the marquee event of All-Star Saturday Night, and it certainly won't be the last, especially when you have former Slam Dunk Contest champions coming out on social media and making a point that the NBA is probably afraid of being made.
Five-time 1st Team All-NBA center Dwight Howard competed in four NBA Slam Dunk Contests during his illustrious playing career, and he was the winner of the 2008 competition, finding the right mix of style and substance in what remains one of the most underrated performances in the competition's history. This is all to say that Dwight Howard might have an idea of what the biggest existing issue with the contest actually is.
“Ya don’t understand that everyone done did all the dunks you can think of,” Dwight Howard wrote on Twitter following Saturday night's Slam Dunk Contest. “What more ya want? Congrats Mac.”
Dwight Howard makes a terrific point. Having been around for nearly forty years, we've seen almost everything possible at this point in time. Individuals of all shapes and sizes have been jumped over. Dozens of guys have taken off behind (or rather, near) the free throw line. We've seen alley-oops from all angles and lord knows how many 360's and between the legs dunks. The league has tried changing up the format, going East vs. West for two years, and fluctuating between three and eight participants. But at this point, most of what we see is recycled from a contest of year's past.
The biggest problem is that the Slam Dunk Contest is still being billed as the main event of All-Star Saturday Night. It's not. The star players come out for the Three-Point Shootout, and last night, the main event should've been the Stephen Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu Three-Point Shootout, which two-time defending champion Damian Lillard should've been a part of.
My theory is that if Mac McClung winning the Slam Dunk Contest for the second consecutive year were the opening act of All-Star Saturday Night last night, the conversations about the state of the Slam Dunk Contest wouldn't be quite so prominent.
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