The NBA dunk contest field is set, and it is not great.

I used to live for the dunk contest. It was my favorite part of NBA all star weekend. This was when Vince Carter would show up and wow the fans. His dunk contest is still the GOAT dunk contest ever. But it started to wane when they gave contestants as much time as they needed to complete a dunk. It was pretty unwatchable back then. They decided to put a time limit on dunks, and that made it much better. This was when we got the Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon contests that were only bested by Vince Carter. Hell, even when Victor Oladipo showed up and did a dunk in the Black Panther mask, it was still pretty dope.

Now the stars are not entering the contest. We are starting to get backup players and G League players. I fully understand why LeBron has never entered. He has nothing to prove. But why don't we have players like Anthony Edwards joining? Where is a guy like Obi Toppin? How come Ja Morant has never been here? Why does Zion Williamson opt out every season? I mean, it is because they don't want to get hurt, but come on. Michael Jordan was in a dunk contest when he was young. Larry Nance wowed the crowd. Julius Erving did some wild dunks. We need some young star players to get in this contest again. That will make it fun.

This season, and no disrespect to these guys, they are better athletes than I could ever dream of being, it is a bunch of no names, minus one guy that I don't think of as a dunker when I watch him play. The biggest name is Jaylen Brown. And he can do some powerful stuff when he decides he wants to. But he is more of a slasher/three point shooter. He has one, maybe 2 highlight dunks in his whole career. He is wildly athletic. He can jump out of the gym. But I don't think he is really going to bring it this season. The Celtics have a real shot to win the finals this year, and he is a very important player for them. They need him to be healthy for the stretch run. I think he will dunk it hard, but I don't expect true fireworks from him. Then we have KJ Martin. He is a fine dunker. He is a fine leaper. He can maybe do some cool stuff. But the guy is a lifelong backup, and he doesn't have the charisma that Nate Robinson had when he was joining dunk contests. I don't think people outside of true NBA fandom really know who KJ Martin is as a player. Hell, I forgot he was in the contest until my 12 year reminded me. Then we have two G League guys. Mac McClung is back to defend his win from last season. McClung at this point is a sideshow. He is never going to be a viable NBA player, but the NBA seems more than happy to roll him out for the dunk contest. He is like those guys that go to driving ranges and wack the ball as far as they can. He is a freakshow. He is someone who comes out to do some dunks and then goes back into his G League hole. And then we have Jacob Toppin. This is, by far, the lesser of the two Toppin's playing professional basketball. I'm sure he is a fine leaper, but who really cares about him being here? I sure as hell don't. I don't even know what team he is currently on and how much run he actually gets game to game.

This is a less than stellar field. I have no real will to watch this season. I hope I'm proven wrong, but probably not. I'm sure the NBA doesn't really care about the contestants, but the fans should. This is a bummer. The whole all star weekend is becoming kind of a drag and kind of pointless. I get that the players need the break, but some changes have got to be made. The NBA is usually pretty great about trying new things out and making it fun and enjoyable. They need to do that with all star weekend sooner rather than later. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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