NBA: Slam dunk contest should be eliminated...

[whitemamba]

1 on 1 tourney would be so fun to watch

[Reck]

People who say if you dont like it, dont watch it dont get it. That's not the point.

will suck if I'm watching or not. As an nba fan I want to care about these events but its hard to when every year they find a way to make it worse then the last.

First you have to simplified the dunk contest, by that I mean no more props and no more dumb and seeminly impossible dunk attempts. Original and ridiculousness walk a fine line here.

Then when you find normalcy in the contest, get rid of all the other filler crap like skills challenge and shooting stars. Keep to the basics.

[Xevious]

I agree with Charles, there should be at least a couple stars in each contest. The average fan doesn't care to watch a bench player on a lottery-bound team dunk. Nate Robinson was the exception, just because he's so short (even though he participated too many times).

[Xevious]

Then when you find normalcy in the contest, get rid of all the other filler crap like skills challenge and shooting stars. Keep to the basics.

I actually don't mind that shooting stars and skills challenge. It's kind of like a warm up to the main event. But they need to find a way to speed the night up. Taking away the musical acts would be a good start.

[HarlemHeat37]

Shooting Stars is fine, skills challenge is lame though, tbh..

As for the dunk contest, it's obviously hit/miss..it's annoying that some of these guys need a 1000 attempts for each dunk, but it's easier said than done..

As others have said, you need stars and/or somebody to steal the show..it doesn't have to be a Vince Carter performance, it can be a Dwight Howard/Jason Richardson showcase and that would suffice IMO..

There's no alternative to the dunk contest..any new idea will also become hit/miss, tbh..

[Biggems]

i miss the old 3 pt contest.....8 players, 3 rounds, 2 guys shooting at the same time in the first two rounds..... I also remember this contest used to be broken up throughout the night. I am ok with keeping it all together in one segment, but I want the rest of the old format to return.

I was trying to figure out a way to make the slam dunk contest better.....since the big guns refuse to participate.....i came up with a few ideas (change the height of the rim, allow use of trampolines)....both are kinda lame ideas.

The other idea I had was maybe a game of horse, using only slam dunks (But spell out NBA, instead of horse, as to save time). Have a big wheel, with several classic dunks from previous contests. Give fans a chance to spin the wheel, and every player has to perform the dunk. If he cannot do it right the first time, he gets a letter. have 6-8 dunkers compete. play until only 2 dunkers remain. Then, in the finals, the two remaining dunkers have the opportunity to create their own dunks. They have 3 dunks each, with the highest total score winning.

Get rid of all the garbage music nonsense. We are watching to see basketball, not crap bands or artists.

I like the shooting stars event.

The Skills challenge is ok, but I would like to see it altered a bit. Get 4 PGs, 4 SGs, 4 SFs, and 4 PFs....Have each position go. The fastest time at each position moves to the Finals. Each position is playing for a certain charity. Charity money is earned with fastest time in round 1 and winning the contest. If the same position has the fastest time in both rounds, the donation is doubled.

[Thebesteva]

I swear every wit that says this should be eliminated will be tuning in next year.

stop being so salty. just let it be.

Agreed...but they need to someway somehow make it where the real stars of the NBA compete. As I mentioned earlier this is all about shoe sales..LEbron knows if he loses to some other guy his shoe sales might take a 0.0000000000000000000000001% hit...and that is too much from a corporate perspective.

[hater]

well definitely they should have a rule to not repeat the same damn dunk try more than 2 times. can't make it in 2 tries. guess what, try a different ing dunk

[rayjayjohnson]

Agreed...but they need to someway somehow make it where the real stars of the NBA compete. As I mentioned earlier this is all about shoe sales..LEbron knows if he loses to some other guy his shoe sales might take a 0.0000000000000000000000001% hit...and that is too much from a corporate perspective.

i don't disagree with Bron not wanting to partake.

I mean, think about it, this years was OK, but everything mind-blowing has been done. Even if he wins, and that's a lot of pressure for something that ain't compared to ringing, he's going to be hyper-analysed. I think Bron's made it clear he doesn't much like being looked at under the microscope.

Bron not being in the dunk contest doesn't affect my view of him as the GOAT heir apparent one iota.

[AussieFanKurt]

there were some okay dunks. Ross as carter was pretty good

[fevertrees]

the free throw line dunk needs to be banned

[lebomb]

off.

If you don't like it, don't watch it.

got.

X2..........cant stand mufawkus that watch the whole damn event and then about it. Turn the damn channel and STFU. The dunks that did go in were pretty good IMHO.

[lebomb]

well definitely they should have a rule to not repeat the same damn dunk try more than 2 times. can't make it in 2 tries. guess what, try a different ing dunk

I do have to agree with this........would make things better. , I say try the dunk once and if you miss, try something different.

[Biggems]

i don't disagree with Bron not wanting to partake.

I mean, think about it, this years was OK, but everything mind-blowing has been done. Even if he wins, and that's a lot of pressure for something that ain't compared to ringing, he's going to be hyper-analysed. I think Bron's made it clear he doesn't much like being looked at under the microscope.

Bron not being in the dunk contest doesn't affect my view of him as the GOAT heir apparent one iota.

I hold it against him. I feel he should have entered the contest during his first 5 years in the league.....but, he never did. I feel he cowered out of the contest.....

as far as him not liking the microscope.....tough ....that is what you get when you come in with the moniker King James out of HS before you have done a damn thing in the league. Then you go to Miami and talk about several rings....he got one, but if he fails to get anymore.....he better get used to some very high magnification.

[gaKNOW!blee]

You people are jaded as ...James whites 2 handed dunk was better than Vince Carter's yet everyone sits there and yawns.

[Latarian Milton]

superstars dont need s like this to be impressive imho. dunk contest is only a stage for those who're gifted with super athleticism but don't have a clue how to play basketball (gerald green, james white etc...)

[stxspurs]

X2..........cant stand mufawkus that watch the whole damn event and then about it. Turn the damn channel and STFU. The dunks that did go in were pretty good IMHO.

If u can't stand it ,don't read it. I hate mufawkus that are butt hurt cuz someone doesn't like my thawts. Don't click the thread and STFU

[TDMVPDPOY]

lol haters, heard they might introduced dribble through bosh legs for the skill challenge

[DMC]

You people are jaded as ...James whites 2 handed dunk was better than Vince Carter's yet everyone sits there and yawns.

Except we had to watch him try it like how many times? The thing about dunks is they are explosive and you didn't know what was going to happen. Imagine having to watch the same broken play over and over in the game, until they get it right or change it up. How exciting would that be? Those great full court passes are amazing because they are done on the fly. this multiple tries.

The fact that the rules change every year means the entire thing is ty anyhow.

James White should never be near any all star game. Someone who spends most of their time in the D-League should have to buy a ticket.

[stxspurs]

Except we had to watch him try it like how many times? The thing about dunks is they are explosive and you didn't know what was going to happen. Imagine having to watch the same broken play over and over in the game, until they get it right or change it up. How exciting would that be? Those great full court passes are amazing because they are done on the fly. this multiple tries.

The fact that the rules change every year means the entire thing is ty anyhow.

James White should never be near any all star game. Someone who spends most of their time in the D-League should have to buy a ticket.

This!

[Dex]

What I don't understand is why they just keep adding these new gimmicks that only continue to make a mockery of the whole thing? And then the TNT crew sits there and talks about how "it needs to be fixed", when every change they make is only further breaking it.

It all started with the whole clock idea, so now every year we can sit and watch guys pull a Birdman and miss a dunk 15 times before finally just doing something simple, or just failing altogether. I'm on the fence on whether the players should be penalized for misses or not (though the judges don't appear to do so), but it doesn't change the fact that no matter how cool a dunk is, it's not nearly as exciting once you know what is coming and have watched them brick it 5 times.

Now, they further give the players a handicap by stopping the clock while they walk back to their spot or re-prepare.

Fan voting is always a farce, so why they've put the final vote in the fan's hands is beyond my understanding.

Kenny Smith needs to learn how to shut the up during the whole thing. We don't need to hear you shout the same thing 10 times over.

The judges hand out 50s like they're samples at the grocery store.

The whole East vs. West further dilutes the talent pool. What if all the best dunkers are in the West, or the West finished the first round with two of the highest scores? A guy who should rightfully be in the Final round gets screwed. It's nice that they give to charity and all, but why not just give the money to charity and not up the event doing so?

Apparently now you have to jump over SOMETHING (a kid, a painting, a car) for a dunk to be considered impressive.

The list goes on and on. The dunk contest was so much better when it was just the player and the ball, doing dunks off the dribble or pass. No props. No gimmicks. And the player had to be athletic enough and confident enough to do the dunk, because if they missed a couple of times, they were out. None of this "throw crap at the wall and see what sticks" nonsense.

If they really want to fix the Dunk Contest, it's not a goddamn Calculus problem. Go back to the way it was when the Dunk Contest was cool. But no, they would rather have fans adding hits to NBA.com and the NBA Twitter page.

/rant

[stxspurs]

Maybe Fans should pick reserves not starters but they would that up too

[snickles]

Taking away the musical acts would be a good start.

and here is the biggest symptom of the biggest problem of pro sports. too many times, the league is trying to make it more about entertainment than it is about sports. look at the NFL. halftime of the NFC or AFC championship games they have random musicians giving performances at half time. bands that have nothing to do with the sport. playing songs that have nothing to do with the sport. and of course the NBA shoves musical guests where ever they can during all star weekend.

its because they'd rather have a bigger, but more casual, fanbase watching the games. the days of professional basketball being for basketball purists are dead and gone. its all about individual personalities and splash plays. its much easier to market a big comical shaq, and allow him to bulldoze his way to highlight dunks and plays. its "durant and lebron" instead of the thunder and the heat. its "more exciting" to watch guards get through the lane and dunk, and more marketable to people who dont care to understand the nuiances of the game, who dont appreciate a great pass or a solid defense.

and if they can get more people to turn in to see rihanna or nickleback or whatever, all the better for them.

and for long time basketball junkies....it sucks.

[cheguevara]

typical americans have short attention span. need to be fed entertainment and varied one every few minutes. The fat s need to pass the time while they stuff their faces with the greasy they serve there. Plus it's all business, entertainment companies use those avenues to promote and sell more to the idiot masses.

It's all about money and draining up to the last cent from the fat conveyor belt pieces of that the NBA/NFL/Hollywood sells their ty products to. the american public

[cheguevara]

tbh ideally the sports arenas in the near future will be designed as a network conveyor belts that will go around as the game progresses so the fat s don't even have to get up off their seats to go to the toilet or buy more to stuff their faces with.