Despite Changes, Dunk Contest Still Leaves Viewers Cold

When the NBA released the changes to the Dunk Contest, fans (including myself) were optimistic. But after the contest, plenty of angry viewers took to social media websites to vent their frustrations.

So, what happened ?

Well first, let's look at the dunkers. 2014 was the first dunk contest that had three All-Stars in it since 1988. Okay, they weren't quite Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Clyde Drexler, but it makes a change from unknown players, and "up and coming" prospects. The only player I'd have a bit of a problem with would be Damian Lillard, but he proved me wrong with his battle round dunk (more on that later). 

The format was changed this year, after most people felt that the Dunk Contest should be declared "dead" after last year's disappointment. For the first time ever, there would be a team round, where the 3 dunkers from each conference had 90 seconds to throw as many dunks down, as they could. I had high hopes for this round. I thought it would be a non-stop barrage of amazing dunks, and the energy would be sky-high.

An All-Star squad, but not an All-Star competition. Nick Cannon failed to keep the crowd involved

However, the audience seemed uninterested. The atmosphere was flat. This was probably because of two things.

1) There were too many missed dunks. But this can be forgiven because we're all human.
2) The dunks weren't very good. There were a couple of highlights (the 3 man alley oop from the East wasn't bad) but overall there wasn't anything that could go down as a "great".

Never mind, surely the battle round would save the day. This was the best dunkers in the league, getting head to head, mano a mano. Again, there were high hopes, but it let spectators down.

Terrence Ross' dunk was mediocre, Harrison Barnes' was boring, and I expected more from Paul George after seeing what he could do in-game. Admittedly, Ben McLemore over Shaq was impressed, but the whole build up was very cheesy. John Wall's double pump reverse over G-Man was the highlight of the night, and he deserved the "Dunker of the Night" accolade.

To be honest, the battle round also fell flat, as I don't think one dunk each was enough to really allow us a chance to see what these guys are capable of. Maybe if it were a best of 3 format for each "battle" then fans would have got more into it.

Although I admire Adam Silver and the NBA for trying to change the format (especially so soon into Silver's leadership), they need to go back to the drawing board if they want to keep the fans involved in years to come.

Even John Wall's impressive dunk wasn't enough to save the Dunk Contest from being considered one of the poorest in recent year

Views on the Dunk Contest

So, the All-Star Weekend participants have been announced. The Dunk Contest will consist of, for the East, reigning champion Terrence Ross (Toronto Raptors), fan favourite Paul George (Indiana Pacers), John Wall (Washington Wizards), and for the West, Damien Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), rookie Ben McLemore (Sacramento Kings) and Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors).

So, still no LeBron James, despite Magic Johnson's offer of $1 million back in March of last year, but I still think the line up looks pretty strong. Better than last year's anyhow. Don't get me wrong, I love Kenneth Faried and Eric Bledsoe, but they seemed to lack that pizzazz (yup, that's a word) that has made the Dunk Contest a favourite in the NBA calendar. The lack of big names last year also didn't help popularity with the fans, but with 3 big stars in George, Lillard and Wall, surely the fans can't complain ?

Oh, and did I mention they've changed the format ? There will be no more dunk champions... Actually, that's a little dramatic, but for the first time this year, a conference will win rather an individual. Personally, I think this is a poor idea, and it needs to reversed pretty soon. What was wrong with 6 individuals dunking for themselves and then 1 winning at the end ?

"Who's gonna win ?", you may ask. Well, in my opinion, I feel that it will be the Eastern Conference because of two words... Paul George. He's already competed in the Dunk Contest in 2012 where he impressed fans with his dunk over Roy Hibbert (who stands at a mere 7 foot 2), and since then George has elevated (no pun intended) to the heights of the NBA.

You can't ignore the threat of the West though. Damien Lillard has thrown down two massive dunks in-game recently, and McLemore and Barnes have provided plenty of highlights in their shorts professional careers.

Paul George of the Indiana Pacers will hope to help the Eastern Conference towards victory