How to make the dunk contest better

The 2022 dunk contest was not what people expected. Here’s how to improve it.

In 1976, the NCAA legalized slam dunks in their games. 

Coincidentally, this was also the year the NBA -or the ABA, I should say- held its first Dunk Contest at that year’s NBA All-Star Weekend.

(This was, for those who are curious, the one where Julius Erving became the original free-throw-line dunker.)

Since then, there have been many more contests and it has become the most exciting event of the All-Star Saturday Night.

However, each year was not the same. There have been some that were straight fireworks and some that were just disappointing.

2022’s was the latter.

It was anti-climatic because many of the dunks were done before or weren’t that difficult (for pro athletes) to pull off. There wasn’t much creativity to them.

Halfway through the event, Giannis Antekuonumpo even joked with Steph Curry, saying that it was his fault the dunk contest was terrible.

“You changed the game, it's your fault.”

In a way this is true. I did find the 3-Point Contest more entertaining. 

But I’m going on a tangent…

Anyway, complaining and mocking the dunk contest isn't going to do anything to solve the problem. 

So, what can be done to improve the once most-eventful event of the weekend?

Well, here are some of my suggestions for how the NBA can spice it up:

Play HORSE (or PIG)

Instead of having each contestant show off their dunks for judges, the dunkers should play a game of HORSE.

Dunker A would do a signature dunk, then the following contestant would copy him, and so on and so on. First to spell out HORSE (or PIG) gets eliminated.

I think changing the event to this would bring in a new type of competitiveness, which could spur some creativity, leading to the improvement of the dunk contest.

Celeb Dunk Contest

I was scrolling through IG and came across a clip of a celeb dunk contest back in 1992 called the Foot Locker Slam Fest. 

It was pretty entertaining to watch. 

They had pro athletes who weren’t NBA players, such as Ken Griffey, Jr., Deion Sanders, and Mike Conley, Sr., compete against each other.

The NBA should do something like this to mix things up.

They don’t have to do it every year, but they should do it every now and then to throw fans off guard.

Draw A Dunk From a Hat

Currently, dunkers have to come up with their own dunks and train them beforehand.

With this change, the dunkers wouldn’t know what dunk they have to do before Saturday night. 

They’ll have to draw a signature dunk from a hat and perform it. Then, judges will score them based on how well they copied the dunk. 

Whoever executes the “drawn dunk” the best wins the event.

They can also use props and all that jazz to make it more entertaining for fans.

Copycat

This event would be similar to the previous one.

However, the main difference is the contestants will be copying a pro dunker.

For instance, a pro dunker, such as Jordan Kilganon, would perform a dunk, then the contestant would copy it.

Whoever is able to successfully imitate the most dunks wins the contest.

King of the Court (Dunk Contest Style)

For this, the dunkers would play King of the Court, but they would only be doing dunks.

Essentially, a dunker would face off against another dunker. 

One player would do a dunk and then get scored by judges. Then, the second dunker would do a dunk and get scored.

Whoever gets the higher score, gets to stay on the court to face the following contestant.

Then, once a dunker reaches 5 points (or wins 5 times), they would be crowned the King of the Court.

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Final Thoughts

So, what do you think?

Would these changes make the Dunk Contest more entertaining and exciting? 

I know some of the ideas probably won’t improve the dunk contest. 

But I do think there needs to be a change to it, even if it’s just once because it’s been too redundant the past couple of years. 

The NBA needs to throw something random at it to peak the interest of fans.

But those are just my opinions. What would you change?