Still recovering from his knee injury, Kevin Durant takes the opportunity to drop interviews. The All-Star winger notably spoke about the Slam Dunk Contest, and released a declaration which should be unanimous. According to him, “the stars must come back” so that the event regains its luster.
It’s hard to fault him for once…
Three weeks before All-Star Weekend (February 17-19), the hype is slowly rising. If the votes for the all-star game caused a lot of talk, the revelation of the participants for the dunks contest made a lot of people disappointed. It is true that the event, which is less and less followed, has lost its prestige in recent years.
This season, Shaedon Sharpe (Blazers), Trey Murphy III (Pelicans), Kenyon Martin Jr. (Rockets) agreed to indulge in the game, like Mac McClung, player of… G-League. Incredible, the Big League had so many refusals that they had to bring in a minor league player. Good for him huh, but for the public and the followers, the casting is not very attractive, and KD shares this opinion.
In the podcast “The ETCs” of Boardroomthe Slim Reaper indicated that the Dunk Contest should be the main attraction and that the stars should participate in it, like in the good old days.
“We need a Zion (Williamson), a Ja (Morant)… I think the stars have to come back. There were stars every year when I was a kid, the best players in the League, who were in the All-Star Game. No disrespect to the guys there… Shaedon Sharpe is going to put on a show, Mac McClung, he’s crazy what he does, he’s an incredible athlete… But it has to be sacred. I’d rather have stars, I’d be more excited to see a Zion.”
KD is right, the Dunk Contest must regain its former reputation. The Dominique Wilkins – Michael Jordan era in 1988, 2000 with Vince Carter, or even 2016 with Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine is a long way off. Today, the NBA must face the refusal of many stars. Zion probably prefers to watch it on TV for physical reasons and his knee history, and Ja Morant had indicated that he was not a fan of the SDC, especially the judging system.
“One million dollars. If they give me a million, I’ll come. In the meantime, I’ll watch and just tweet about the scoring method. Today, we see so many incredible dunks in matches, that when the Dunk Contest arrives, you don’t appreciate it as much. Few players can perform the dunks that are performed in dunk contests. If you looked at it that way, there would be over 50.”
Although Shaedon Sharpe is a specialist in the field and is capable of big madness, the 2023 set does not make you dream, like in recent years. Hopefully Kevin Durant’s word can get things moving…
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Source texte : Boardroom