Desmond Mason Jason Richardson Gerald Wallace and Steve Francis How freakin' lame. Any ideas on why there are only 4 this year? Did no one want to do it?
Yeah, I didn't understand why they only have four participants as well. Maybe it is because the dunk contest last year blew so bad that they wanted to get this year's contest over with quickly.
The problem is that none of the star players (other than Francis) want to participate. Vince Carter and Kobe both refuse to compete. I think that's pretty lame and pretty arrogant on both their parts.
Or it could just be that they want to avoid injury and not have to do more work. I don't know why, but it seems like the dunk contest doesn't really draw that many participants because players just aren't interested.
I'm surprised media w**** Jordan isn't in it. He would probably be guaranteed to win, and everyone knows that he loves the spotlight.
From todays USA TODAY: Stars don't jump to enter dunk contest By Roscoe Nance, USA TODAY Houston's Steve Francis is the only All-Star in the slam-dunk contest, which many feel is why its appeal is fading. The stars won't participate. "They could offer me $10 million and I still wouldn't do it," says Orlando All-Star Tracy McGrady. Vince Carter, the 2000 champion, and Kobe Bryant, the 1997 winner, declined comment. But theories on why players don't participate include wanting to conserve their energy for the All-Star Game, not wanting to risk injury or damage their image by not winning. "I think that some guys feel that they grow out of it," Francis says. The dunk contest — made popular during the 1976 ABA All-Star Game — was introduced to the NBA All-Star weekend festivities in 1984 with nine contestants, which included Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins. This year's four-man field, the smallest ever, will compete for $60,000 — $25,000 for first, $15,000 for second and $10,000 for third and fourth. Interest in the contest peaked from 1985-88 as Wilkins and Michael Jordan dunked it out. It began to wane after Wilkins and Jordan stopped competing, and the three-point contest, introduced in 1986, became the fan favorite. The format for the dunk contest has changed three times since 1994 to create more interest, and 1991 champion Dee Brown says it may be time to tweak it again. He suggests increasing the prize to $75,000, winner-take-all or perhaps staging an exhibition with each of the 24 All-Stars performing a dunk with nothing at stake. "Pride would be on the line," he says. "They have to do something to jazz it up." The dunk contest on Feb. 9 will be a part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night (8 ET, TNT), which includes the 989 Sports All-Star Hoop-It-Up and 1 800 CALL ATT Shootout. The All-Star Game is Feb. 10 (5 p.m. ET, NBC).
Really, Jordan could probably just lay it up and that would be considered one of the greatest dunks of all time. I think Francis will pull it out this year, considering he was 2nd a couple years back and has some mad hops for a PG. GO FRANCHISE!!!
