All-Star Dunk Contest: Revived! Or Is It?

For basketball fans, All-Star Weekend marks the middle point of the season and a weekend full of stars and athletes. From the celebrity basketball game to the 3-point shooting challenge, All-Star Weekend is loaded with events led by the most talented basketball players in the world. With all the festivities, the slam dunk contest is the most anticipated event for the weekend. However, for the last few seasons, the slam dunk contest has lost its' luster. After last year's dunk contest, the NBA took control and created the biggest spectacle of the event i have ever seen.
For the past decade, fans have wanted big names in the dunk contest. The LeBron James and Kobe Bryant's of the league; that's who we want to see dunk. Not, JaVale McGee? Of the Washington Wizards? Who is that? Or DeMar DeRozan? From the Toronto Raptors? Oh, you mean that guy who was in last year's pitiful dunk contest? These are some of the questions people ask themselves and thoughts people have when the dunk contest participants are announced, but it's also a way some players make names for themselves in the league.
This year the contest was centered around rookie All-Star Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin was originally drafted in 2009 by the Los Angeles Clippers as the first overall pick but was injured during preseason so never played a regular game in the 2009-2010 season. He debuted in regular season for the 2010-2011 season and has been a phenomenal player for the Clippers. Griffin, known for his size and outstanding game play, has grown popularity because of his beastly dunks. Just shy of seven feet standing at 6'10'' , Griffin breaks tradition of the general thought of a big man.
Well this year's contest just had it all. Dunks with one car. Dunks with two hoops.Dunks with three balls. It was ridiculous.
Although Blake Griffin's first few dunks were pure and without props, the flashy dunk over the car at the end just oozed cheesiness. Watching how hard the NBA tried with the dunk contest this year was like watching that kid in class that tries too hard to be funny and just fails. Don't get me wrong, there were some amazing dunks, but it was more of a circus than a contest.
At this point in time, every variation of dunks has been done. It's just a matter of using props and getting the crowd energized. The best dunk of all time would have to be the Vince Carter 360 dunk. He was in the dunk contest at the beginning of the millennium and no hoop had ever been dunked on like that before. But what made Carter so spectacular is that he brought raw talent mixed with creativity to the table. The fact that it was so simple yet difficult is what made the dunk so well known in the league.
So for this year's dunk contest, Blake Griffin was not my favorite. In my opinion, JaVale Mcgee and Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City Thunder) had the best dunks of the night. Ibaka was the first dunk of the night and jumped from the free throw line. He flew like Michael Jordan and it was raw. The second most difficult, and best, dunk of the night, would be JaVale McGee's back handed dunk into the basket. I have never seen a dunk like McGee's before. He ran from one end of the three point line towards the other while his arm did a 180 and dunked the ball single handedly into the basket. His body was going one way with his arm doing the opposite. I mean that defeats Newton's law of motion. Or something like that.
All in all, the dunk contest was a lot more entertaining than years past but I'm just scared the purity in basketball will be lost in the translation of making money. Hopefully I'm wrong.