The Dunk Contest is meant to be one of the NBA’s biggest events but this year’s edition fell completely flat and was mocked by fans.
Someone bring out the defibrillator, because the NBA Dunk Contest is serious need of resuscitation.
Basketball fans could barely keep their eyes open during the latest edition of the Dunk Contest on Sunday, which is part of the NBA’s All-Star weekend in Cleveland.
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But what is supposed to be one of the biggest showpiece events failed to live up to the hype yet again, with the competitors struggling to nail any highlight-worthy dunks.
The four players participating in the Dunk Contest were Orlando’s Cole Anthony, the New York Knicks’ Obi Toppin, Golden State’s Juan Toscano-Anderson and Houston’s Jaylen Green.
There were bizarre scenes in the first round when Green came out with an NFT playing on a phone attached to a gold chain around his neck, while for some reason Anthony decided to wear some bulky Timberland shoes instead of his usual basketball sneakers.
However, the unusual accessories didn’t translate into any inspired dunks for the duo. Green struggled to land any highlight dunks, settling for a windmill before executing a better 360 between-the-legs dunk.
Anthony attempted some very difficult dunks but couldn’t land any, and he and Green were eliminated.
Toppin and Toscano-Anderson were the best of the group with their first attempt and posted the highest total scores to progress through to the final.
But the final round was just as underwhelming as Toscano-Anderson failed to finish any of his attempts on his second run, handing the victory to Toppin.
Toppin sealed the win with a one-handed effort where he tried to bounce the ball off the backboard and dunk it in the hoop. But the ball bobbled out of his hands, leaving many fans outraged the dunk contest had arguably been decided with a lay-up.
The bizarre scoring system where five all-time NBA greats rate each dunk out of 10 doesn’t allow the judges to score lower than a six, even when a player doesn’t land a dunk.
The shocking standard of dunks prompted Miami Heat legend Dwayne Wade to declare after Toppin’s victory: “This dunk contest right here … was a solid 6.”
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal was among the star-studded crowd and looked suitably unimpressed at the quality of dunks, while many fans were quick to label this year’s Dunk Contest the worst of all time.
US sports podcaster Bill Simmons tweeted: “Let’s never talk about that dunk contest again. It never happened.”
Sports broadcaster Skip Bayless called it the “worst Dunk Contest ever.”
Reporter Mark Gottlieb said: “This is garbage.”
This year’s shocker led many fans and pundits to call for an overhaul to the Dunk Contest, which has struggled to live up to its billing since the epic battle between Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon back in 2016.
Earlier, Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns won the three-point contest with 29 points.
Australia’s Patty Mills performed admirably in the first round but his haul of 21 points wasn’t quite enough to make it to the final round.
NBA Dunk Contest first round scores
Obi Toppin — 90
Juan Toscano-Anderson — 87
Jaylen Green — 73
Cole Anthony — 70
Final round scores
Obi Toppin — 92
Juan Toscano-Anderson — 69
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