The National Basketball Association missed a great opportunity during the weekend to strengthen its weakening product, but it failed in a big way.
As the most popular NBA millionaires descended on Orlando, Fla. for the All-Star game, they brought with them their entourages, fancy clothes and smiles, but they forgot to grab their humility. Almost all of the major players in the game chose not to participate in the dunk contest on Saturday night.
Correct us if we’re wrong, but isn’t the All-Star game and its festivities for the fans? If that is the case, then why weren’t the fans treated to the best players in the world wowing them with incredibly athletic and mind-boggling dunks?
The answer is simple: The NBA and its superstar players are selfish and don’t understand why they get paid the big bucks.
It used to be that the dunk contest was the pinnacle non-game event during this weekend. Fans flocked to the arena to see superstars such as Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, Dr. J., Kobe Bryant, Clyde Drexler and other high-flyers show off their athletic superiority with physics-bending dunks.
These players, who came before this generation of over-paid and pampered soft guys, created lasting memories for fans and the league.
No one will forget Jordan leaping from the foul line, legs spread and tongue sticking out as he jammed home a one-handed dunk. Fans will always remember Webb, who barely stood 5-foot-8, doing 360-degree windmill dunks.
Former players understood that they were there to entertain the fans, and most of that entertainment came from the dunk contest.
Former NBA players seemed to have understood that the dunk contest was about more than gimmicks, which has become the case recently as motorcycles and carnival acts are used to try and pump up the event. They understood that it was an art form that demonstrated some of the most graceful moves the human body can possibly perform.
Yes, the winner receives a meaningless trophy and bragging rights to be called the best dunker, but the dunk contest is about fans seeing their heroes cut loose, let off some steam and show off their talents.
Blake Griffin won the contest last year after he leapt over the hood of a car. Now he is a bonafide superstar and chose to sit out the contest. Guess he’s now just too important for the event.
He joined Miami stars LeBron James and Dwayne Wade as those megaplayers who chose to sit on the sidelines instead of wow the fans with their abilities.
We are not taking away from Utah’s Jeremy Evans, who won the event, but he is not the household name that fans went to see. They wanted to see James, Wade and Griffin battle for dunk superiority.
The NBA went through a lockout at the beginning of the season. It had to cancel all of its games in late October, November and part of December. It has taken a public relations hit and is now third behind the National Football League and Major League Baseball for popularity among the major sports, according to a January poll by Harris Interactive. Some people might even argue that the National Hockey League is now more popular than the NBA. Either way, it’s obviously losing ground to the other major team sports as fans are paying a lot of money to see less-than-competitive games.
James said prior to the dunk contest on Saturday night that he wasn’t a contest dunker. He said that he was an in-game dunker, which is why he didn’t participate in the event.
James doesn’t get it. He needed to participate because fans pay top dollar to see him do anything with a basketball. It’s not about you, LeBron James. It’s about the league and the people who make it possible for you to earn millions of dollars and drive around in high-priced vehicles and live in over-the-top mansions.
They deserved to see you compete.
Now, the NBA deserves to lose these fans because it simply doesn’t deserve them.
Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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