Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Major Letdown...

The always anticipated NBA Slam Dunk Competition, once again failed to live up to its expectations. How lame was it? Sportscenter showed 4 highlights of it. Two of which were impressive. Nate "the Great" Robinson literally "jumped" his way to victory over Dwight Howard (also literally), in the lackluster competition. The title is Robinson's second in the last three years. It's nice to see the Knicks getting some hardware. But come on. The unexcitement of the former premiere All-Star competition has to stop. How? The league's best dunkers need to step up. Lebron said he would, but will he back that up? Tough to say. Here's a dunk competition I'd like to see.

Vince Carter
While it's true Carter, at 32, is more man than amazing these days, I'd still bet the man can dunk. He single-handedly put the competition back on the map in 2000. I'm not saying Carter would win the competition in 2010, but I'd sure watch to see what he's got left in the tank.

Jason Richardson
J-Rich, the 2-time champ, can flat out fly. His final round dunk in 2003 for the title, may be the best the competition has ever seen. He could be the favorite to win.

Lebron James

The man looks down at the rim when he throws it down. Imagine what he could do while he's hanging up in the air for that long? TNT's video simulation of him dunking from the 3-point line could be a possibility. Okay maybe not. But the man is a human-highlight real during games. Think about what he could do with no defenders in his way.

Kobe Bryant
Kobe claims he doesn't have the legs he used to, but after his 360 slam against the Warriors the other night, I find it hard to believe him. He's already got one slam dunk title under his belt. I'd like to see him prove he's still got it.

Gerald Green
The one-time champ doesn't even need a contest to show off his repertoire of explosive slams. He throws down with authority and always looks to dunk. The young kid could be too much for the vets like Kobe and Carter.

Rodney Carney
Carney may not be the most well-known NBA player, but he sure deserves to be in a dunk contest. In college, he barely missed a dunk a good foot behind the free throw line in a competition, then elected not to try it again. Afterwards, he claimed he's done it before. I believe him. If you've seen him jump, I'm sure you do too.

Honorable Mention:
Nate Robinson, Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith & Dwyane Wade

I say we bring back the 6-man competition, and get six of these guys on board.

Who would win?

Images taken from Yahoo! Sports & Google Images

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lebron would take it for sure.

Anonymous said...

I would at least put Dwight Howard in as an honorable mention. The dunk off the side of the backboard on the first try was amazing.

Wingman said...

That's a good point. I should have thrown Howard in there as well. I just feel like guys his size are limited in their dunk selection.

Anonymous said...

i don't care who wins. i would watch. if i had to pick, i'd take J-Rich.