The NBA All-Star festivities will take place this weekend, and one of the most anticipated events is the Sprite Slam Dunk contest.
The participants for this year's dunk contest are New York Knicks' Dennis Smith Jr., Atlanta Hawks' John Collins, Oklahoma City Thunder's Hamidou Diallo, and Charlotte Hornets' Miles Bridges.
The dunk contest has been underwhelming in recent years, as participants tend to use props to make simple dunks look great. Veteran forward and former Slam Dunk champion Vince Carter thinks that people are giving too much credits on gimmicks more than the dunks themselves.
How would 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Champion Vince Carter change the dunk contest?
The Undefeated asked dunk champions from every decade if the contest will ever be a star-studded event again (via @MarcJSpearsESPN): https://t.co/oS8JtCXEi2 pic.twitter.com/nLPRLlYa9y
— Andscape (@andscape) February 13, 2019
Vince Carter, considered by a lot of people as the best dunker in the history of the league, won the dunk contest in 2000, and he won the title just by sheer creativity and athleticism. No props, no gimmicks, just 100% pure talent.
However, since the dunk contest has been part of the All-Star weekend for a very long time, participants had to think of other ways to entertain the fans, especially since a lot of dunks had already been done by previous contestants in the past.
Still, it's tough to argue with Vince Carter on this one. Even with props, some participants have failed to add creativity to their performance in the dunk contest.
If VC can still do it, pretty sure he'd participate in this year's Slam Dunk contest to teach the youngsters a think or two about the beauty of dunking the basketball.
Still, a lot of today's best dunkers look up to Vince Carter as inspiration, and that speaks volumes to the legacy that he will leave once he decides to hang it up.
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