No wonder LeBron James said no. No wonder Cedric Ceballos won when he clearly was able to see through that blindfold. No wonder Chris Andersen was actually allowed to compete. Twice. The NBA’s annual Slam Dunk contest is a joke, and nothing says NBA and joke like Chris Andersen.
Everyone knows that popularity in the event has been waning since Vince brought the house down in Oakland in 2000. J Smoov did a little bring it back to the forefront of the weekend last year. His dunks were well above average, and he brought some creativity to the event that it hadn’t seen since Dee Brown stopped to pump up his kicks. But the circumstances of Nate Robinson’s win this year will make a lot of people not waste their two hours on a Saturday night in February next year.
Still, you can’t blame Robinson. It’s not his fault that he was able to miss more than 20 attempts and still win. But watching in vain as he tried 14 times to finally nail his winning dunk was the equivalent to getting really drunk, rushing to the toilet, dry heaving a dozen times before you finally hit pay dirt and your dinner comes flooding back up. After 14 attempts, we all know what’s coming, and it’s not gonna be pretty.
The real tragedy in this whole ordeal is that 10 years from now, the record books will say that 5-9 Nate Robinson won the dunk contest in 2006 for a finale that was essentially a fancy toss off the glass, not that Andre Iguodala pulled off two of the best dunks in competition history. Peep it below.
Everyone knows that popularity in the event has been waning since Vince brought the house down in Oakland in 2000. J Smoov did a little bring it back to the forefront of the weekend last year. His dunks were well above average, and he brought some creativity to the event that it hadn’t seen since Dee Brown stopped to pump up his kicks. But the circumstances of Nate Robinson’s win this year will make a lot of people not waste their two hours on a Saturday night in February next year.
Still, you can’t blame Robinson. It’s not his fault that he was able to miss more than 20 attempts and still win. But watching in vain as he tried 14 times to finally nail his winning dunk was the equivalent to getting really drunk, rushing to the toilet, dry heaving a dozen times before you finally hit pay dirt and your dinner comes flooding back up. After 14 attempts, we all know what’s coming, and it’s not gonna be pretty.
The real tragedy in this whole ordeal is that 10 years from now, the record books will say that 5-9 Nate Robinson won the dunk contest in 2006 for a finale that was essentially a fancy toss off the glass, not that Andre Iguodala pulled off two of the best dunks in competition history. Peep it below.
Let’s face it. We’re all basketball fans. Personally, I’ve been watching the dunk contest since Mike was doing his thing in the '80s. Until this year, everything had been done. What makes a dunk special is doing something that people haven’t seen or even thought of before.
Nate deserved a 50 for his dunk over Spud Webb. Undoubtedly. But for as great as that was, I’ve seen it before. Remember Vince doing the same thing to someone who was roughly the size of Spud Webb sitting on Nate Robinson’s shoulders?But be honest. What were you thinking when Iggy cleared a path behind the basket, and handed the ball to A.I.? Would you have even conceived taking an alley-oop off the glass from the opposite side of the basket before? That was trend-setting. Now people will attempt to do variations of that dunk. Just like Dr. J from the foul line and J.R. Rider’s “East Bay Funk” between the legs (who was the first to do that in competition if I recall).
Ultimately though, America loves the little guy, so before it was even a contest, Nate Robinson was going to win it. Anything less than Iggy riding into the arena on a horse -- with a vial full of the cure for cancer in one hand and a list of trade scenarios that will get Isaiah Thomas out of the clusterf*** that is the Knicks’ payroll in the other -- was just gonna come up short. Why? Because awwww, look at that little fella. He’s so cute. He’s not supposed to be able to dunk!
It’s up to the NBA to salvage something that once was so great. Bill Simmons put it best. Sponsors need to step up to fund a contest with a seven-figure purse that will pit Kobe, Bron, Vince and T-Mac up against young dunkers like JRich, Desmond Mason, Fred Jones and “The People’s Champ.” Then it might be worth watching again. That being said, I’m almost positive I’ll be sitting on my couch come this time next year, bitching about the way things used to be.
