I’ll save you the usual take on the NBA slam dunk contest being dead, because it is, although it had a brief revival in 2016 with Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon.
Part of the problem is that we’ve sort of come to the end of innovating around the slam dunk and have replaced it with props and such. The other problem is the lack of star power — Miles Bridges, John Collins, Hamidou Diallo and Dennis Smith Jr. are in this year’s group.
No offense to those promising players, but the days of Michael Jordan vs. Dominique Wilkins are looonnnnggg gone.
But there’s a solution to the problem: Zion Williamson will save us all.
He’ll be in the NBA next year, and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF VINCE CARTER he’d better be in the dunk contest in his rookie year.
But why can’t he do it this year? Who cares if he’s not an NBA player? Can’t the league and NCAA work out an agreement to make sure he doesn’t violate any collegiate rules?
Now I get to remind you that he’s already won a dunk contest, and it was absurd:
He could show off the missed dunk that left jaws on the floor, one that he completed in warm-ups in 2017.
He combines Carter’s springiness with Wilkins’ explosiveness! We shouldn’t have to wait a year for this.
