Why do people want to see All-Star/superstar players in the Dunk Contest so bad?

[coolhandsteve]

How can they be so sure that if a superstar player were in the contest that they'd automatically be better than the "no-name" or younger player? I get the star power/ratings angle, but..

I don't think most of the All-Star/superstar players today are all that creative compared to back in the day honestly :confusedshrug:

[Dro]

I don't care who's in it as long as they are fantastic dunkers......

[Rake2204]

A famous person also performing exceptionally well is a popular culture dream bomb.

But I agree that famous names won't make a dunk contest great by themselves. Quietly, a lot of the league's best big name dunkers (big names either for their skill or for their flat out dunking prowess) have, in fact, made their way through the dunk contest over recent years (including but not limited to: Paul George, Gerald Green, Kenneth Faried, Damian Lillard, John Wall, James White, Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, Dwight Howard, J.R. Smith, Rudy Gay, and Nate Robinson).

I would have been interested to see what LeBron James would have brought to the dunk contest around 2005, for better or worse. But I have this feeling that if he didn't pull off anything revolutionary, many would probably just be sitting here today ripping him for his mediocre showing. Since he didn't perform, now they just rip him for never giving it a shot. Unless he blew our minds, it probably would have been a lose-lose situation for him.

[stanlove1111]

The real question is why does anyone care at all about the slam dunk context period..It was played out about 20 years ago. How many duns do you have to see? Can't think of anything more boring..

[Genaro]

Nowadays I prefer the 3 point shooting. The dunking contest isn't good for about 5 years now, and isn't great for a much long time.

[coolhandsteve]

A famous person also performing exceptionally well is a popular culture dream bomb.

But I agree that famous names won't make a dunk contest great by themselves. Quietly, a lot of the league's best big name dunkers (big names either for their skill or for their flat out dunking prowess) have, in fact, made their way through the dunk contest over recent years (including but not limited to: Paul George, Gerald Green, Kenneth Faried, Damian Lillard, John Wall, James White, Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, Dwight Howard, J.R. Smith, Rudy Gay, and Nate Robinson).

I would have been interested to see what LeBron James would have brought to the dunk contest around 2005, for better or worse. But I have this feeling that if he didn't pull off anything revolutionary, many would probably just be sitting here today ripping him for his mediocre showing. Since he didn't perform, now they just rip him for never giving it a shot. Unless he blew our minds, it probably would have been a lose-lose situation for him.

Yep. And though he would have won 1 or 2 had he participated especially earlier in his career, and he probably would've put on a good show overall, I don't think he would've pulled off something we haven't seen.

If he were in it this year even, I'm not sure he would win..not if LaVine in particular pulls off the dunks I've seen him do on YouTube.

[Dro]

A famous person also performing exceptionally well is a popular culture dream bomb.

But I agree that famous names won't make a dunk contest great by themselves. Quietly, a lot of the league's best big name dunkers (big names either for their skill or for their flat out dunking prowess) have, in fact, made their way through the dunk contest over recent years (including but not limited to: Paul George, Gerald Green, Kenneth Faried, Damian Lillard, John Wall, James White, Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, Dwight Howard, J.R. Smith, Rudy Gay, and Nate Robinson).

I would have been interested to see what LeBron James would have brought to the dunk contest around 2005, for better or worse. But I have this feeling that if he didn't pull off anything revolutionary, many would probably just be sitting here today ripping him for his mediocre showing. Since he didn't perform, now they just rip him for never giving it a shot. Unless he blew our minds, it probably would have been a lose-lose situation for him.
Many people go off his win in the high school dunk contest which was pretty underwhelming, he just did a lot of basic dunks......