NBA Slam Dunk Contest needs Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett to save it

NBA Slam Dunk Contest needs Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett to bring back the excitement once enjoyed in the 1980s with Michael Jordan

Let’s just be honest, the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest has become dull and boring. Every year we watch too many top NBA players sitback and watch the competition from the sidelines instead of competing in the competition.

At one point, the competition became all about gimmicks and props as we watched competitors like Blake Griffin dunk over a car and use props like they were a magician.

I will give Blake Griffin and other top players credit for entering the competition. They did not run and hide like LeBron James, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook who were too afraid to enter the competition; as if losing the Dunk Contest would ruin part of their legacy.

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Many people forget that Michael Jordan lost the 1985 Dunk Contest to Dominique Wilkins, but he redeemed himself by winning in 1987 and 1988. Now the 1988 win for Jordan came with a lot of controversy as many people like NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley believes Wilkins got robbed in favor of the hometown star Jordan.

For the record I scored the 1988 competition earlier this year and scored Jordan and Wilkins as Co-champions, but the true winner was the fans who got to witness greatness; as the best dunkers in the world competed against one another. Besides Jordan and Wilkins, the competitions in the 1980s regularly featured legendary dunkers like Julius Erving, Spud Webb and Larry Nance.

One reason for many of the top 1980s players entering the competition had a lot to do with money. The players of the 1980s generation did not have the salaries of today’s players. In the 1984-85 season, Magic Johnson was the highest paid player in the league earning $2.5 million according to sports-reference.com, which would have the buying power of $7.1 million today.

Jordan the high-flying Chicago Bulls rookie only made $500k in the 1984-85 season, which would be $1.1 million in today’s buying power. So it is easy to understand why the 1980s players were so eager to enter the competition besides wanting bragging rights and good publicity.

Lately, we have seen many of the top up-and-coming players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zach LaVine, Victor Oladipo and Donovan Mitchell enter the Dunk Contest. Hopefully, that trend will continue with Duke basketball stars Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett who could help bring the Dunk Contest back to the good old days.

They are both high-flying dunkers who can dunk from the free throw line. They also likely will go No. 1 and 2 in the upcoming NBA Draft. Plus, them being teammates and the future of the NBA would heighten the event.