For NBA players, generational athletes gifted with insane athletic prowess, dunking, or the instinct to go for a dunk during games, should come as second nature. However, in recent years, the explosive in-game dunks, an act of pomp and intent, has become a rarity. The Gil’s Arena crew agrees.
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Both Gilbert Arenas and Rashad McCants felt the absence of “fast-break dunks” has led to the modern game’s dunking drought.
Gil recalled the times, during his playing days, when players would add extra show to a dunk, especially on a fast break. All to get the fans inside the arena excited.
“What happened to that part of the game? When did going on a fast break doing little soft sh*t like there’s moments in the game where you get to turn the crowd! Like think about it! What have you got on the fast break, you damn near try to break the rim or something,” added Gil.
Bring back dunking on the fast break 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/XB1a9eng9D
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) December 14, 2024
McCants agreed, saying Kevin Garnett told him to “dunk everything” during his rookie season because that was where a lot of money would come from. Impressive dunks would get photographed and were featured on trading cards and magazine posters. And in some cases, these trading cards would sell for big money.
“That’s for the trading cards too. If the trading cards was important, you’d do more dunks, but it’s not. Magazines, remember you used to take the picture out the magazine? Put it on your wall. KG said, first thing he’s like ‘Dunk everything on the fast break. Don’t do nothing cos that where you get your trading cards, posters. you have to do that’,” elaborated McCants.
Since the advent of the 3-point era, there’s been a steady decline in the number of fast-break dunks during games. Players either opt for the open three or a simple layup without much fuss, forget pomp.
While it’s true that the showmanship has slowly faded away, the offenses have become more potent in terms of production. So it doesn’t look like the players will change their ways soon. Dunks are likely to remain a rarity in the modern game.
