LogGrad98
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Unfortunately due to the nature of humans and sheer repetition it is very difficult to do anything in the dunk contest that makes it interesting anymore. We have seen countless windmill between the legs jump over a person off the side of the backboard tossed from a teammate off the rebound off a big bounce 360 from the freethrow line dunks. I think about figure skating a bit here. The first person to land some of these jumps had the darn thing named after them, it was so innovative. And in their era it defined their routines and made them the best there was. Now we add the word "double" or "triple" to that groundbreaking move and it is part of the standard repertoire and worth marking down if they can't pull it off. It is basically the expected minimum standard. Similarly in the dunk contest, so much of it has been done before that the only real way to separate yourself is through spectacle. Superman. Bring in a second backboard. Jump over a car. Wear different jerseys and emulate dunks of the past. Etc. These are not necessarily great dunks, they are just more entertaining. We have already seen everything a top athlete can pull off, so now it is basically boring. It is still fun to see such athleticism on display, but I have long ago stopped expecting to see anything new or jaw-dropping or awe-inspiring in the dunk contest. Maybe this time someone will jump over a Llama or dunk off of 3 different backboards, or windmill a 360. But it is still entertaining enough I guess. It makes me think of going to watch the JV squad in their games, felt like I was watching my jr high team, like, awww, remember when we used to play like that? This is their time now, who is doing the free throw line dunk this time? Isn't that cute?
Evidence of this is that the top players want nothing to do with it. They have no reason to go there because it is no longer the top guys showing how athletic they can be, it is the young guys getting some attention. Mitchell didn't even care enough to defend his title. He did his stint, showed he was the rising star, and that was good enough. Seriously most years now I have to look up who any of these guys are.
Evidence of this is that the top players want nothing to do with it. They have no reason to go there because it is no longer the top guys showing how athletic they can be, it is the young guys getting some attention. Mitchell didn't even care enough to defend his title. He did his stint, showed he was the rising star, and that was good enough. Seriously most years now I have to look up who any of these guys are.
