Slam Dunk is the staple of basketball culture around the world and has been one of the core of entertainment for basketball fans. Since the introduction of Slam Dunk contest in 1984, the NBA’s popularity skyrocketed and it introduces some of the best and iconic dunk moments of NBA stars throughout the history. Follow for more nba hoops news here!
In the inauguration of the NBA Slam Dunk contest during the NBA All-Star Weekend, the first winner was Larry Nance, the father of the current center for New Orleans Pelicans, Larry Nance Jr. The recent winner was Obi Toppin. With the inclusion of Slam Dunk Contest, many NBA stars who happened to have insane vertical leaps and packages of slam dunks found another way to ink their name in the league’s history like Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins, and the current known dunkers in Aaron Gordon and Zach Lavine.
Slam Dunk Contest: The Origin
Now, officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk that is annually held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. Sports Illustrated describes the Slam Dunk Contest as “the dunk contest was the best halftime invention since the bathroom.”
It surely is one of the best contests ever produced and popularized. The American Basketball Association or ABA introduced the contest way back 1976 in Denver and the first winner was Julius Erving of the New York Nets – after the merger of ABA-NBA coming into the 1976-1977 season, but the NBA inaugurated its first slam dunk contest 1984.
NBA Slam Dunk Contest: Voting and Contest Format
The contest follows a two-round competition that consists of five panelists or judges which will evaluate and score the player’s dunk between six to ten. 50 is the highest score while 30 is the lowest.
The two players with the highest score in the first round will advance in the final round – each finalist will get two dunks, similar in the first round. The dunker with the highest combined score for the two dunks in the final round will be hailed as NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest Champion. If there is a tie, there will be a dunk-off to determine the champion, this goes until one dunker gets the highest score.
There are cases where the NBA Slam Dunk contest winner is determined by the number of text votes the player received.
Famous Controversies over Dunk Contest
During the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA All-Star Weekend hosted by Los Angeles was covered by rigged issues that the rookie star Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers won the contest for endorsement purposes: a dunk in which he jumped at the KIA sedan car, and many believed that the obvious winner is Javale McGee. The same thing happened in 202-0, when Aaron Gordon where once again rigged and he deserved to win the contest. Many criticized and hated Dwayne Wade and Scottie Pippens’ bad evaluation and gave Derrick Jones a perfect despite repeating the same dunk while Aaron Gordon dunks over Tacko Fall.
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