The Dunk Contest, Just not what it used to be

You remember how fun it used to be during NBA All Star weekend to watch the slam dunk competition? You could always count on names like Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving, Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, and other stars of the game competing to be the games greatest dunker. Really competing. The Jordan v. Wilkins battles were some to remember. There were some great dunks back then. Jordan's kiss the rim, Julius Erving's jump from the free throw line dunk, or Dominique's tomahawk dunks were a sight to see. Those were some of the greatest times of my sports watching childhood.

This year's competitors are: Shannon Brown, Nate "I compete in the slam dunk competition every year" Robinson, Gerald Wallace and then a dunk off between Demar DeRozan and Eric Gordon. Now don't get me wrong, these guys will probably do some amazing dunks. In fact, the actual competitions lately have been pretty decent for the most part, especially if you covered up the names of the competitors. I mean for crying out loud Chris "the birdman" Anderson has participated in recent years.

Which brings me to this, LeBron James came on national television last year during the dunk competition and told the world he would be participating in this year's competition. Well, this year has come and no LeBron. There would be great anticipation for this competition if James by himself was dunking, but he's not! This year the buzz is, well there really is no buzz around the competion at all.

The athletes from the new generation are not like the old generation. No longer is the $25,000 1st prize enough for superstars to get in the competition. No, they would much rather be seen on the sidelines ooooing and awwwing, acting like a kid on a sugar high on national television than actually participating. It's not about carrying the greatest dunker in the world label anymore, but rather about the lack of money and that right there is a shame.