The All-Star Weekend is here, and the festivities are already underway in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately for the fans, Kevin Durant will miss yet another chance to participate in the celebrations. Durant was selected as an All-Star for the 13th time in his career, but an MCL injury has him sidelined till after the break.
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With the Celebrity Game and the Rising Stars Contest done, we’re hours away from Day 2’s events. Today the stars practice, and then we have the three much-awaited contests. The State Farm All-Star Saturday night will consist of
- Kia Skills Challenge
- Starry 3-Point Contest
- AT&T Slam Dunk
As always, the Slam Dunk contest is the finishing act of the night. This year, the four contestants we have are:
- Kenyon Martin Jr., Houston Rockets
- Mac McClung, Philadelphia 76ers
- Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans
- Jericho Sims, New York Knicks
However, many feel the same should not be that way anymore. Kevin Durant is among them.
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Kevin Durant is not happy about the Slam Dunk Contest
The Slam Dunk contest used to be the highlight of the All-Star Weekend. In fact, people used to tune in for the Dunk Contest more than the actual All-Star Game. However, as of late, the contests have been, well, in nice words, sub-par. The last dunk contest that excited us all was the 2016 Dunk Contest between Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine.
Kevin Durant addressed the same, as he talked about it on his podcast. He made sure to clarify that there is no diss on the current contestants. In fact, he blamed the NBA for not getting the stars to participate in the contest.
Durant talked about how having people like Ja Morant and Zion Williamson would have been good for the contest as well as getting viewership for the NBA.
In the same segment, Kevin Durant also talked about how LeBron James should have probably done a dunk contest in his career too. He says it’s the only aspect that is missing from his future documentary.
LeBron James not having done a Dunk Contest is quite frankly one of the biggest points that fans raise. The King is a showman and slams the ball down with authority. People would have paid in abundance to see him take on the others in the Slam Dunk contest.
Hopefully, the NBA can look into it and change things up the next year. As KD put it, All-Star Weekends used to be sacred, but now they’ve lost their sanctity.
The 2016 Slam Dunk Contest
In 2016, we witnessed the last great Slam Dunk contest of our generation. Zach LaVine, Aaron Gordon, Will Barton, and Andre Drummond took the stage, with Zach and Gordon moving on to the final round.
LaVine and Gordon scored 50 each in their two chances in the final round. Seeing how the scores were tied in the Final round, they were set up for a final sudden death round. There, LaVine edged Gordon out 100-97 to win the whole thing.
