NBA Needs to Retain All-Stars for Saturday Night Festivities

SUPERMAN HAS SAVED THE SLAM DUNK CONTEST. We all saw Superman, eh, I mean, Dwight Howard, create some of the greatest dunks ever seen in the history of the NBA or ABA. With the NBA and Orlando Magic having struck gold with Howard, (who dazzled adoring fans all weekend in New Orleans) they both need to do their best to keep him interested in the contest for at least one more year.

Not since Vince Carter has there been so much buzz coming from the slam dunk contest. Dwight Howard produced the most unique dunks ever seen by basketball fans, and players alike. To think Howard didn’t even use all the tricks in his well publicized repertoire, leaves fans with hope that he may return for a third year and defend his title as slam dunk Champion.

Here’s where we get into our predicaments. Even if Dwight Howard chooses to return next year and defend his crown, which is likely, the NBA will have hit it big again; but will they blow it like they almost did this year? It is rumored that the NBA was already trying to discourage Howard from doing his behind-the-backboard dunk because they thought he might break the video cameras attached to the hoop. Dwight assured them they would be unharmed, and he stayed true to his word. In addition, for the past two dunk contests, Howard has propositioned the league to raise the basket from ten feet to twelve feet, in order to showcase his true leaping ability, to no avail.

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Our second predicament is somewhat of sad thing. Remember when the best of the best wanted to compete on All-Star Saturday night? Remember Dr. J, remember Jordan and Dominique, and Clyde the Glide, all of whom competed in the dunk contest more than once. These days we have too many prima donnas who are more concerned about their bank account then the love of the game. Lebron James, who was already making $15k just to be on the All-Star roster, suggested the NBA should offer expensive cars for the players to compete in the other events. Very few have the heart to actually compete for the fun of it, and it becomes aggravating to see these professional athletes want more and more just to give something back to their fans.

I guess league officials don’t realize that NBA All-Star weekend is about the fun and excitement, and not who wins Sunday’s meaningless game? Do the fans actually root for the East or the West, or do they want to see jaw-dropping dunks, no-look alley-oops, and lots of memorable highlights? I’ll pick the second one. The NBA needs to accommodate its stars on one of the greatest nights to watch basketball, not deject their amazing ideas so we get …yawn…another ho-hum slam dunk contest; and on the other hand, the super stars need to put their ego aside and give the fans what they want.

In such a long NBA season, All-Star weekend excites the fans for the final stretch of the season, and gives many fans something to look forward to when the wins might not be in their respective teams favor. Vince Carter has already saved the dunk contest before, after it almost killed itself when it took a two-year hiatus in 1998 and ’99, then let it fade by attracting not-so-super stars to compete, who offered little fan appeal. We need a total team effort from the league and it’s super stars, the NBA can’t afford to rely on Superman to save the day every time the contest goes stale.

by Rob Bickerstaff
Pro Basketball Fans Staff Writer

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