By TORI ADDISON
Staff Writer
My biggest problem with this year’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest was wondering why I even stayed up to watch it. I mean, if I wanted to deal with Nick Cannon and a bunch of rambling judges talking about run-of-the-mill performances, I would have just tuned into America’s Got Talent. No disrespect to any of the dunks, but it was kind of hard to establish a great performance when all the other attempts were so weak. The players had no chance to display their individual talent with the new format that the NBA implemented for this year’s competition. Not to mention, almost every other aspect of the contest just felt wrong.
The main problem for me (besides Nick Cannon) was the lack of emotion. A dunk is not a dunk unless it brings you on your feet in awe over the craziness that just hit the rim. Let’s face— it John Wall’s dunk would not have been as great as it was without the ridiculous dance moves he pulled out as soon as his feet hit the floor. It is just too bad that I cannot even hear his name without thinking of the absurd song that Troop 41 brought into our lives a couple years ago.
None of the players even seemed like they were that into it. Half the fun of watching NBA players throw down an insane dunk is the reaction that they pull out afterwards, and that was something that was seriously missing from this year’s contest. I have no idea what was up with Harrison Barnes, but his performance was very disappointing. After seeing some of the crazy in-game dunks he has had over the past two seasons, I was expecting him to take the cake. Also, what the heck is “Shaq-Lemore,” and who decided that was a good idea? And really, I guess I should not have been so stupid to think that I could go one night without seeing Drake try to be best friends with a professional athlete, yet the fact that he was not wearing some shirt that makes it obvious he partied with Johnny Football was reassuring at least.
In my opinion, the new format was a complete wash. I was not even sure what was going on half of the time and the freestyle round at the beginning was kind of a joke. Fans watch the dunk contest for the excitement that comes with monstrous dunks and that was one thing I did not feel while watching. The whole event felt like it lasted a total of five minutes and I was extremely disappointed with the performances in general. It also seemed as if the players had no time to showcase their individual talent due to the new system of judging that focused on ranking the East/West teams as a whole. It would have been nice to see players attempt more than just three dunks, especially when most of them missed their first two attempts and were left with one more to bank on. Unfortunately, the end of the contest made things even more agonizing. I genuinely felt uncomfortable as I watched Nick Cannon try to create a post-game interview that the players took way too seriously. What made it even worse was the lack of reaction from the crowd as the players just kind of stood around aimlessly.
So basically, the whole sequence of events was just off and I really was not satisfied with any of it. Not to sound too harsh, but the new format completely killed this year’s dunk contest. I never had any problems with the old format and highly suggest the NBA brings it back next year or else I am not watching, and that’s that.
