Examining what happened to the NBA Dunk Contest.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The NBA Slam Dunk Contest is not the same as it used to be.

Yes, I know, I might as well be Captain Obvious pointing out the Iceberg miles away from the Titanic of today’s modern NBA, but the main point still stands.

The days of Michael Jordan flying through the air, Shaq pulling out a flip phone in amazement, or Vince Carter signaling “it’s over” to a camera are gone. Still, it was only eight years ago Aaron Gordon and Zach Lavine were delivering one of the best displays of athleticism ever captured on television. So what happened?

8 years ago today🗓️

Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon gave us one of the best Dunk Contest performances of all time pic.twitter.com/3mx5USnuzT

— RunYourPool (@RunYourPool_) February 13, 2024

Was it Adam Silver selling his soul to the devil by dropping Sprite as the main sponsor in favor of Sierra Mist’s rebranded Starry? Was it the rule changes? Is it the fact NBA stars are softer than Charmin toilet paper?

It could be a mix of all three, although I don’t know how much the former matters, but for a league that promotes justice all the time, we need some justice for the best hangover drink in the world. Don’t worry Sprite, I’ll see you on Sunday.

The most likely reason for the Dunk Contest’s fall off is the simple fact we have access to these players lives 24/7, 365. We don’t need to see Lebron James go up there and show off some personality because we all know he lies more than Richard Nixon under oath.

We know Ja Morant wants us to think he’s a thug through “Instagram Live”. We know pretty much everything about Paul George, Patrick Beverly, and Draymond Green (well Draymond is just a lunatic) through podcasts they host. The days of star players needing the dunk contest to be an outlet for sponsorships, fans, and fame are as dead as Klay Thompson’s relationship with the Warriors.

LEAKED Video Of Klay Thompson Kicking A Chair At Warriors Coach & Ignoring Steph Curry😬 (12/13/23) pic.twitter.com/QKjnevIAe6

— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) February 7, 2024

Look at that sentence above for a second. Now, change the word “star” to “role”, or even “G League” and get rid of my bad Klay Thompson analogy. There is your answer ladies and gentlemen.

In an era of podcasts, social media, and TMZ sticking hidden cameras in small crevices, the dunk contest gives the unknown athlete an outlet to shine. They are going to take that opportunity 10 times out of 10, and I guarantee the stars aren’t going to take it away from them, especially when the prize money is just a tenth of what the winners of MLB’s Home Run Derby or the NHL’s All-Star Skills Challenge receives ( $105,000 vs. $1 Million)

For guys like McClung and Jacob Toppin that’s a half year’s salary. For Lebron James or Steph Curry, that’s a tweet about their new shoes.

*Side note, I came to the realization AT&T sponsors the Dunk Contest while Starry sponsors the 3-point contest.

Between that, the new rules, and the questionable (at best) judges, this contest is going to keep declining. Maybe one day we’ll see the prize poll get bigger and that’ll attract more stars to the show.

For now all I can say is; “Figure it out Adam”.

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