
With NBA All-Star weekend less than four weeks away, we only have two commitments to the 2025 NBA Dunk Contest: Stephon Castle and Matas Buzelis.
NBA fans know who the two NBA lottery picks are. Some might remember them competing in the 2023 McDonald's High School Dunk Contest (video above), but the casual sports fan would probably respond with their favorite "Who?!" meme. And this is what Stephen A. Smith had to say about the announcement:
"It's an absolute travesty. I wouldn't give a damn if they canceled the NBA All-Star weekend festivities. It's that bad. These players, it's unconscionable. And I don't give a damn how they take it. Some of these players should be ashamed of their damn selves for how they allowed this event to be tarnished.
They ruined it. Did you know Jaylen Brown participating in the contest last year was the first All-Star to be in it since DeAndre Jordan in 2017? Michael Jordan did it three times. Kobe Bryant did it. Vince Carter did it. And your GOAT, LeBron James, never has. He said he had nothing to prove. It wasn't about that. It was about carrying on the tradition."
During the live broadcast of the 2009 NBA Dunk Contest, a hyped-up LeBron verbally committed to the event: "Right now, I'm preliminary putting my name in the 2010 NBA Dunk Contest. LeBron James is saying that in 2010, at Dallas Stadium, I'm putting my name in the dunk contest."
It didn't happen.
Magic Johnson, famous for yelling, "The slam dunk contest is back!" during every NBA Dunk Contest, offered a million dollars of his money to get LeBron to participate in the event.
It didn't happen.
We are 15 dunk contest absentees later, in year 22 of LeBron's incredible career. He's not only still dunking, but in the last two weeks, we saw him posterize a defender on an alley-oop and throw down one of the greatest dunks of his career: a switch-hands-in-mid-air-windmill on a player who wasn't even alive when Bron entered the league.
I know the odds of a 40-year-old LeBron having a change of heart and finally participating in the dunk contest are slim to none. Still, his dunks this year are way better than anything I've ever seen from the two 20-year-old commitments. And we saw Draymond Green apologize for punching Jordan Poole last week. This is where I say, "So you are telling me there's a chance?" in my best Jim Carrey voice.
LeBron's excuse for not doing the contest is that he has nothing to prove. But we all know playing with Bronny has given him purpose and energized him, and what would be cooler than winning a dunk contest on a dunk assisted by your son? Think about it! The oldest player to ever win the dunk contest was Spud Webb at 30. LeBron has a shot at becoming the first 40-year-old ever to win the competition, and he can do it with the help of Bronny.
If (I'm staying optimistic) LeBron declines the event for the 22nd time in a row, I'm hoping one or more of these individuals can help save the contest that used to be the highlight of All-Star weekend.
This event needs a marketable name, and despite his 0.04 points per game average this season, Bronny remains the most popular rookie in the league.
Did you see the internet reaction to his poster dunk in the G League? He dunked on Sterling Manley (you probably don't know who that is) of the Rip City Remix (Yes, that's a real team), and it became the night's most viewed, talked about, and shared basketball highlight. One of those people sharing the highlights was LeBron James, who posted five IG stories about the dunk and Bronny's career-high 31 points.
So, imagine the much-needed hype the NBA will get from Bronny's participation in the event, especially with LeBron there. He can catch a lob from his dad. Viral! As a Laker, he can honor former Dunk Champion Kobe Bryant. Viral! He can redeem Shannon Brown. Viral?
Also, he finished ahead of Buzelis and Castle and was runner-up in the 2023 McDonald's High School Dunk Contest.
This former Laker won the last two NBA Dunk Contests with the two most exceptional performances since the epic Zach LaVine vs Aaron Gordon showdown in 2006 (can you name the other two participants from this event?). He won them while being considered a G League player, which means an NBA player hasn't won the NBA event in three years! He hasn't accepted an invite to go for his third straight championship yet, but if he wins, he will join Nate Robinson as the only 3 x Dunk Contest champions.
Here's what the 2024 G League MVP had to say about it during a recent interview with The Ringer's Howard Beck:
"I'm thinking and praying on it. If I do it, I really want to be prepared and I want to put a lot of effort into it. So, I'm just seeing if it's right for me. I'm really thinking on it."
The challenge for him will be living up to expectations. Even if he's better than his competition, fans will judge him against his past near-flawless performances.
"It's extremely tough to think of new things. It being the NBA dunk contest, it deserves that pressure. It's such a special stage, I like that pressure. If I do it, I'm going to work my tail off to try to make great dunks and think of new things. But yes, it's extremely challenging on your mind and body.
And stressful as you want the fans to love what you do. You want them to see the hard work you put in. I probably won't do it if I feel like I haven't put enough time into doing something that people will like."
For two years now, I've been saying if the NBA is going to allow Mac McClung to compete even though he's in the G League, then they should allow Jalen Lecque. The casual sports fan won't know the name, but longtime Ballislife fans definitely know who "Baby Westbrook" is. The 6'4" former Sun had a dunk in high school that reminded us of Vince Carter's "Dunk of Death" from the Olympics, and he had a reverse in the G League that reminded us of Vince's famous reverse dunk vs the Pacers.
Speaking of Vince, last year, Vinsanity himself said on TNT that Leque would make his "dream slam dunk lineup"
He's currently putting on dunk shows for Hapoel Afula in the Israeli basketball league, but I have a feeling he would take a flight back to the United States for a chance to take flight at NBA All-Star weekend.
Sticking with Vince's list, I'm putting these two names together because they were two of the last three NBA players to win the event before McClung's back-to-back wins (Anfernee Simons was the other). I love seeing guys defend titles, so having past winners back at the event will help sell it.
Derrick Jones Jr had a controversial win over Aaron Gordon in 2020. He won by a single point after Gordon, who had six straight perfect scores, was given a nine by Dwyane Wade, Scottie Pippen, and Chadwick Boseman for jumping over 7'6" Tacko Fall.
Obi might have one of the most underrated performances in event history. Round after round, he made dunks that I'd never seen before. Round after round, fans yawned and criticized the dunks because they looked too easy. He actually made tapping the backboard after going between the legs look easy.
We need a hometown favorite and since the event is in San Francisco, I'm picking Gary Payton II (not to be confused with his brother, Gary Payton Jr). Since I love the father-son stuff, GPII can bring out his father, NBA and Oakland legend Gary Payton, to assist on his dunks. Besides being one of the greatest in NBA history at throwing lobs, Payton Sr. will provide some great sound bytes and reactions. Just look at this video of him with pro dunker Jordan Kilganon.
I don't think GPII can pull off some of these dunks, but if he can get his dad and teammate Steph Curry to be a part of the event in San Francisco, he's worth having in the event.
Here's a crazy idea but I'm desperate and willing to try anything to save this event. The Amen and Ausar Thompson duo count as one person, meaning it doesn't matter which one dunks, but they both have to be involved. They are like the Katayanagi Twins that Scott Pilgrim had to fight.
Since Amen has already stated he has "no dunks in his bag," I guess he will have to do the passing. Maybe, he can grab a player, throw him across the floor the way he threw Tyler Herro, and then Ausar can jump over that player. That sounds like a 50 to me.
But seriously, a better nominee might be Amen's teammate Cam Whitmore. He's a better dunker but he's not popular enough to bring in any viewers.
Did you see her jump over a castle and win the Dunk The Halls Dunk Contest on Christmas? Of course, you didn't. The dunk contest featuring Minni, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and Daisy Duck was part of the NBA/ESPN experiment. Some people found it entertaining. I found it as amusing as when John Collins brought out the Tuskegee Airmen, put on the flight attire, and clipped the wings off an airplane model he was trying to jump over.
I fear that if we don't get some of these names in this event, the 2025 NBA Dunk Contest will be as memorable as the 2019 one with John Collins and will get canceled and replaced by a less memorable event for the second time. The first time this happened was in 1998 when the league replaced the dunk contest with 2Ball!
If you don't remember the promotional event for the WNBA, it was a competition that featured an NBA and WNBA player from the same city. It only lasted three All-Star weekends (and two different sponsors) before David Stern decided this event was worse than watching Michael Finley do cartwheels in the 1997 Dunk Contest.
The only people who ever bring up this event now are collectors of rare video games. Sony handed out less than 1,000 copies of a 2Ball PlayStation demo at the 1998 All-Star weekend. They now sell for around $1,500 on eBay.
The Blazers' Shaedon Sharpe is one of the best dunkers in the NBA right now. And if the event had more contestants like the old days (remember when the event used to have up to nine dunkers), I would definitely have him in it. The problem is he's not very popular and this event needs popular players so Adam Silver doesn't cancel the event and try to give us something like that 2Ball video you skipped.
And if we don't have a dunk contest in 2026 then we won't get to see one of the greatest dunkers I have ever seen win it: Coen Carr!
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