The NBA All-Star Weekend is one of the league’s most entertaining events. Or at least it used to be. Lately, fans and media have found major issues with the annual event, and one of the biggest problems is the Dunk Contest. What used to be a showstopper graced by superstars like Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins has devolved into G-Leaguers and bench players putting on a dull show, albeit with impressive displays of athleticism.
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Mac McClung has won the last three dunk contests, all while not having a roster spot in the NBA. Carmelo Anthony, who made 10 All-Star appearances in his illustrated career, has an idea that he thinks could save the dunk contest.
Rather than rely on McClung and other bench players every year, Melo wants the league’s young stars to take up the call and put on a show for the fans. He called upon high-flying stars like Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards and Zion Williamson to participate in the Dunk Contest on his podcast.
“Shoutout to Mac McClung, you know, but he’s holding it down!” Melo said. “But he’s not supposed to be holding it down for us!”
“I wanna see the Jas, right? I wanna see the Ant Edwards, he has to do it at least once. Ja and Zion, you got those three in there,” he said. “And you can add somebody from the rookies, you know, get Flagg in there, I wanna see VJ Edgecombe in Philly in the dunk contest.”
Of course, Melo’s call, admittedly, comes from a business point of view. He will be a part of NBC’s broadcast crew starting next season and the network has the rights to All-Star Weekend, meaning Melo wants the young guns to put on a show for his network.
Melo also called out some of the older players in the league and said that rookies like Edgecombe would take the contest more seriously than the vets. “He’s a rookie who’s gonna take that very serious. You start getting to the vets now, but the vets ain’t doing that s***. We gotta get Ants and Jas and Zions in order to jumpstart this thing,” he said.
There’s been a lot of discussion on why the quality of the Weekend has been deteriorating overall, but Melo believes it’s simply a matter of the right incentive to get the players involved seriously again.
