Should The NBA Just Get Rid Of The Dunk Contest For A Few Years?

As we approach the NBA All-Star break there seems to be a big question as to the best way to make the Dunk Contest more entertaining. In just the last 3 years ratings from the dunking spectacular have dropped from more than 12 million households down to 5 million last year. There is a lot of disappointment this year because LeBron James has backed out of the competition after he insinuated that he would compete last year. He joins the likes of former Dunk Champions Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter who have also repeatedly declined invitations. What I found most interesting was the lack of support given to Shaquille O'Neal's recent proposal to have a Superstar contest to benefit Haiti, only defending champion Nate Robinson has been fully behind the idea to dunk for charity. Could there be a more motivational force for a player? I'm hard pressed to find one short of lots of money.

It's become pretty clear that the biggest names in the NBA don't want to bother with the Dunk Contest so they can enjoy more of the All-Star break. At this point I think the best thing the NBA can do is to get rid of the Dunk Contest for a couple of seasons until the fans start clamoring for its return. Think back to the last Dunk Contest that was really memorable. I think Vince Carter's win in 2000 comes to almost everyone's mind (with the exception of a few performances by 5'8" Nate Robinson and one thunderous Superman Dunk by Dwight Howard). That 2000 contest was the best since the great battles between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins during the 1980s. A large part of the 2000 contest's success was due to the fact that there hadn't been a Dunk competition since 1997 when it was won by Kobe Bryant at age 19, lots of new young talented players were eager to participate (Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Jerry Stackhouse). I think putting the competition on hiatus for a year or three could go a long way to revitalizing the allure of the Dunk Contest. I believe the only other option the NBA really has would be to vastly increase the amount of prize money awarded to the competitors and the winner which isn't likely to happen anytime soon.