Can Slam Dunk Contest Be Saved?

In a word ... no.

The problem is tough to totally put your finger on. Some thing it is the lack of superstar power. I disagree. A ton of people watched the dunk contest Saturday night despite that only one of those guys has ever been an All-Star (and that was Gerald Wallace, who made his first appearance on Sunday). Sure, having LeBron or Kobe or Vince in there would boost it up, but that isn't the reason the contest was so bad.

The dunks were bad. The four guys who competed are all good dunkers but the lack of creativity really showed. Are there more creative dunkers out there? Yes.



So how can it be fixed? These are just some lame-brained ideas I have:



ADD NON-NBA PLAYERS: If you watched the amateur dunk contest, that was much more fun to see. Have a couple of those guys that are playground legends compete with the big boys. We'll probably see some better dunking and there will be some buzz to go with it.

HAVE A DUNK SKILLS TRIATHALON: Have some set obstacles for the dunkers. We already have the "involve-a-teammate" dunk. Let's also have the "long dunk" to bring back the Jordan, Erving and ... Brent Barry ... days. Maybe add ...

...DUNK OVER SOMEBODY: What is the best dunk nowadays? The one that gets on SportsCenter? Yes, the Poster. Dunking all over someone and putting them flat on their back is where it's at. So have these dunkers go up against the Samuel Dalemberts, Marcus Cambys and Dwight Howards of the NBA (maybe not use those guys, but some other shot blockers). Think about how great that would be. The so-called "simple dunks" look a heck of a lot better and it would be awesome to even see a few of them blocked.

ADD MORE PLAYERS: Why just four guys? Why not six? Or eight? Yeah, it may take a bit longer ... but hopefully you'll get some better dunks.

TRAMPOLINES: Give the NBA players the same thing that all those acrobats and mascots have: a trampoline.