mobile app bar

2000 Dunk Contest Winner Reveals LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Himself Were Offered $1,000,000 by NBA to Participate

Jeet Pukhrambam
Published

2000 Dunk Contest Winner Reveals LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Himself Were Offered $1,000,000 by NBA to Participate

LeBron James, the new all-time scoring record holder has always shied away from the dunk contest. Not that it isn’t in him to win, but probably because of how low-scale the event is. Over the years, the luster of the dunk contest has faded.

It went from having Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as winners to… does anyone even remember who the winner from the 2022 Dunk Contest was? Yes, nobody does.

The sheer small-scale nature of the event means that big names don’t want to participate. But it wasn’t that long ago when it was a spectacle.

Throw it back to 2000 and you will remember Vince Carter’s iconic “Honey Dip” dunk. The one that won him the contest. And it was just as recently as 2016 when we had the famous Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon square off.

But times have changed and while the big names might not make a comeback to the contest anytime soon; the NBA had made attempts. Carter himself revealed that the NBA wanted to bring big names.

Also read: How Scottie Pippen Was The Mastermind Behind Michael Jordan’s Last Shot With the Chicago Bulls

Vince carter, the 2000 Dunk Contest winner reveals NBA wanted to pay big money to LeBron James and Kobe Bryant

Yes, in a last-ditch effort, the NBA wanted to pay LeBron James and Kobe Bryant to participate in the dunk contest. How much you ask?

As per Carter, the figure was $1,000,000! And he himself would also get that much for taking part in the contest. Carter had this to say,

“they threw around some names, I remember it was LeBron, Kobe, T-Mac—my name was thrown in there of course, and it was a few other people for $1 million. But you obviously couldn’t get the commitment of everyone to do it.”

Also read: “I Am Just As Good as Kevin Durant”: Anthony Edwards Confident He Can Perform at Kyrie Irving and KD’s Level

The value of a million and the decline of the dunk contest

So to promote an event that has been losing its charm over the years, what does the NBA do? Pay their best players, of course! And while that tactic didn’t work, it is important to remember the scale of this gesture.

This was when Vince Carter was still in good health, so we can safely assume this pitch is well over 15 years ago and back then a million Dollars was far more valuable than it is today.

What’s more, since that point in time, the Dunk Contest has lost a lot of importance. This year, a G-League player, Mac McClung is participating. And while the 76ers used this as a PR stunt and gave him a 10-day contract, we all know, the reality is that the contest will be underwhelming. Let’s hope this writer’s words are proven wrong.

Also read: After 4 Months Of Dating, Marcus Jordan And Larsa Pippen Reportedly Want To Give Michael Jordan His 2nd Grandchild

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam

x-iconinstagram-iconlinkedin-icon

Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

Read more from Jeet Pukhrambam

Share this article