Dunk contest rosters
No LeBron. No Josh Smith. No JR Smith.
I continue my mini-run of writing posts that contain not much more than a roster. The NBA has announced the dunk contest participants.
Nate Robinson will get to defend his crown. Please keep it under 15 attempts per round this time. This is the last time you will ever hear of Nate as the defending champion of anything.
Gerald Green, the dunking star of the summer league two summers ago, is in. He’s my pick to win. It would make it two years in a row that the league’s most embarrasing team salvages the slightest bit of diginity with a dunk contest win.
Tryus Thomas, who everybody loves because he shut down JJ Redick in the tourney, is in.
And Dwight Howard. It’s always tricky for the big guys. Amare was in it a few years ago, and it was Nash’s header that got most of the attention on his dunks. Dwight better break the backboard like he did at the photoshoot for Lang’s story on him when he was still in high school.
UPDATE: Dunk contest judges to include past winners Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Julius “Dr.J” Erving,
Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter.
Since this post is so short, I’d also like to throw in that Mark Kriegel, the author of PISTOL, is signing at the NBA Store at 5 P.M. today. I’ve been a Kriegel fan going back to his radio ads for his writing with the Daily News when I was in high school. I’m about halfway through the book (up to the part where Pistol was the great white hope as a box office draw as a rookie for the Hawks) and it is highly recommended reading.
57 Responses to “Dunk contest rosters”
Feb.5 at 5:17 pm
Chris says:
damn, no james white . . .
Feb.5 at 5:17 pm
Duckets Ruckus says:
i think i’m going to read that.
Feb.5 at 5:20 pm
mutoni says:
i’ll second that; that pistol book is great. just got through it.
Feb.5 at 5:21 pm
white hot eboy says:
Another waste of time!! They need to get rid of this bull%@#$t contest and mandate that the top ten scorers in the NBA have a one on one contest (bracketed: 5 players per bracket) until it’s down to the final two and the winner take’s 1 mill for themselves and fans will know who is the best offensive player in the league year by year. Matchups for days (KB24 vs. Lebron, D-Wade vs. Hibachi, Dirk vs. Melo). It would be the only time the All-Star weekend would have some legit fire to it! Do it, Sternbot!! (I know it would never happen, too many feelings would be hurt)
Feb.5 at 5:22 pm
M.K. Petrik says:
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE DAILY LINKS? THERE HASN’T BEEN ANY IN A LONG ASS TIME!!
Feb.5 at 5:23 pm
delinda says:
http://www.nba.com/allstar2007/news/sprite_samdunk_070205.html
the judges are Kobe, Vince, MJ, Dr J, and Nique.
wow
Feb.5 at 5:23 pm
Sparker says:
what, no random, pot-smoking white dude?
Feb.5 at 5:26 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
One more thing about the Pistol book… apparently Pete’s father Press Maravich is the greatest basketball mind of all-time, and he invented everything from zone defense, the concept of fast breaking, the team of lesser talents being greater than the individual, to the one superstar as entertainment value. John Wooden asked his advice on what kind of plays to run for Lew Alcindor. I had never heard of Press Maravich before reading this book.
Feb.5 at 5:26 pm
delinda says:
sorry you already gave the link:(
Feb.5 at 5:27 pm
Max Airington says:
This will be the worst dunk contest ever.
Feb.5 at 5:28 pm
MC Welk says:
Obscure point of clarification: It was actually perimeter defender Garrett Temple who shut down Reddick in that game.
Feb.5 at 5:29 pm
Johnny Mann says:
no kenny ’sky’ walker? the dunk contest has truly gone to crap.
Feb.5 at 5:36 pm
Harlem_World says:
Actually, wouldn’t it be more entertaining to see a dunk contest in Vegas with Jordan, Nique, Doc to see if they can all still dunk? Sure, it wouldn’t be what it was back in the day, but just to see if retired NBA legends can still dunk way into their 40’s and 50’s (even scrapes for Doc) would be more of a revelation than watching the present paltry offering.
Feb.5 at 5:39 pm
Ty says:
I agree with that comment on Dwight Howard on having to break the backboard in order to win the dunk contest. For the third year in a row the league got it right. Big men rarely do any good in the dunk contest so I will have go with Gerald Green to win it this year with Tyrus Thomas finishing a close second. Green reminds me of a young Tracy McGrady on most nights and I think he is only gonna get better. Boston would be insane to trade Gerald Green cause I think he might be their best young player besides Al Jefferson. I know he ain’t really been playing but where is James White when you need him?!
Feb.5 at 5:43 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
What does it say about a dunk contest when the biggest news is who the judges are??? - Vince, Kobe, Dr J, Nique and MJ???? That is really crazy… I wonder if they’ll have any patience with Nate “20+ attempts” Robinson.
Feb.5 at 5:44 pm
Eric says:
They should have an NBA vs. And1 Dunkers. It would be cool to see The Air Up There do the 720 dunk.
Feb.5 at 5:45 pm
sush carter says:
Ryan Hollins?
Feb.5 at 5:50 pm
Chris says:
What the hell is VC doing judging when he could still win the whole damn thing. How sweet would it be if VC in his street clothes added himself to the contest at the last minute and won. Gerald Green can dunk, and shoot, but he still has some HUGE holes in his game.
Feb.5 at 5:54 pm
A_B says:
yeah why no james white:( I’m still gonna watch it though now I’ma watch ‘the tape’ again
Feb.5 at 5:59 pm
Carmelo Tapsumbong says:
I wanna see a dunk contest between Earl Boykins, Yuta Tabuse, Brevin Knight and Damon Stoudamire.
Feb.5 at 6:16 pm
Dblizzy! says:
I’m suprised people even know White is in the league, much less want him in the dunk contest. I only know he’s there because I saw him in ’street clothes’ (I hate that term)laffing behind the bench during a timeout. How about he get some game minutes under his belt first. If Green doesn’t win it would be the biggest waste of vertical leap ever.
Feb.5 at 6:23 pm
albie1kenobi says:
his Airness is gonna be judging? only reason he’s even there is coz it’s vegas. i think i’d pay more attention to the judges than the participants. i hope nate loses his balance and rams himself into the basketball support while the whole thing falls on him. he robbed AI2’s trophy last year, blocked yao (alrite that was kinda cool, even though he did foul him), and caused carmelo 15 games AND his overdue all-star berth.
one last thought: wouldn’t it be fun for the judges to start trash talking with the partipants and then eventually got each other so fired up they just went out and dunked all over each other? you know MJ talks mad trash and he wouldn’t back down from nothing. imagine him being challenged by kobe and vince, you don’t think he’d take that challenge anyway (even though kobe is in the best shape of his life and MJ’s been, well, retired?) that would instantly turn the worst dunk contest ever to the best.
Feb.5 at 6:47 pm
hellno says:
A one on one contest would be fantastic!
Feb.5 at 7:06 pm
paps says:
Brutal, awful line up. Guys like Vince and James don’t go in cause they have nothing to win and everything to lose. Imagine they lost to Nate or a rook. There massive egos or most likely Nike and others couldn’t handle that. Which is really sad.
Feb.5 at 7:16 pm
next says:
does james white actually need to play in an nba game to be considered? was that why he wasn’t, cuz he’s been playing in d-league or on the bench? the casual fan’s never heard of him, but c’mon! who knows if he’ll even last long enough in this league!
Feb.5 at 7:51 pm
Joe says:
The Warriors should sign White to a 15 day contract so he can be apart of this….
Feb.5 at 8:06 pm
DP says:
Damn I wish Birdman was still here. play wit it.
Feb.5 at 8:35 pm
Nine XXVI says:
…who is Gerald Green again?
Feb.5 at 8:59 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
Number of dunks Nate Robinson has this year? Zero.
Of course he deserves to be there.
1
Feb.5 at 9:09 pm
Mike says:
Kenny Smith’s comments will be worth it
Feb.5 at 9:57 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Ugh. All-Star Saturday may have reached an all-time low.
Feb.5 at 9:58 pm
Chief says:
Fuck man this one is gonna be gay…unless Jordan and Dominique go for it. And if Vince and Kobe decide to join in, it could be saved. Imagine if they dunked and then Jordan stood up and said”Let me show you how to do this son. Pass me that ball…NOW!” and dunked. Only in my dreams…
Feb.5 at 10:34 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Sam, you’d really never even HEARD of Press Maravich? If I were still Ed., I’d totally fire you for admitting that.
Feb.5 at 10:35 pm
hollywud says:
the judges are the best part. iguodala shud be in it instead of dwight. joey graham and rodney carney shud too.
Feb.5 at 10:37 pm
hollywud says:
jr too
Feb.5 at 11:09 pm
drogo says:
There’s one good thing about this dunk contest. Both Nate and Gerald are the type of players that used to practice their contest dunks. They’re not just some high jumpers with no fantasy. If Nate gets his dunks from the first time it’s gonna be a close one. Anyway, I expect Gerald to win it with a 360 between the legs.
Feb.5 at 11:18 pm
SoCal Prince34 says:
James White would be in it if the Spurs gave him some p.t., but maybe they got a dunk contest for the D-League All-Stars. Hell, Kobe may come out and shut it down with one dunk after he gets frustrated with Nate and the lack of creativity in the contest.
Feb.6 at 12:24 am
Mike says:
Put reddick in the dunk comp!!!
Feb.6 at 1:04 am
Chief says:
Dwyane Wade anyone? Most exciting young Highflyer right now.
Feb.6 at 4:02 am
Patrick says:
Garrett Temple shut down Reddick, not TT.
Feb.6 at 4:04 am
Patrick says:
and yeah what happened to Ryan Hollins and his “Make Believe” vertical? (quoth Emeka)
Feb.6 at 5:03 am
Tim Dennis says:
I could think of alot of guys that could compete and do better then dwight and tyrus thomas. James White should be in there and where is andre 3000, Josh Smith would be good to see what his Tape on the floor was for
Feb.6 at 6:34 am
FLUD says:
Yo joe! White’s already signed with the spurs. What the hell would the warriors give him? horribe uniforms and a road to nowhere?
Feb.6 at 7:02 am
Boyd says:
Does Bryant Reeves complain for a living? Damn. Looks like a good field, but i’m sure Dwight is only in their for the freak factor, so they can stand him next to Nate. The guys dunk repertoire is so limited its not even funny. He can windmill and power-jam. I guarantee he’ll do a windmill, throw one in off the glass, try a 360, and not make it out the first round. At least Amare could put it through his legs. Greene will probly take this one.
Feb.6 at 7:28 am
Tariq says:
This is weak. Why don’t they have Nazr Mohammed, Brendan Haywood, Rasho Nesterovic and defending champion Jerome James take part in the 3-point shootout while they’re at it. First to hit the rim wins. I used to really look forward to All-Star Weekend.
Feb.6 at 9:07 am
drogo says:
They should have invited Walter Hermann too. I mean you can watch here how he basicly destroys the backboard in a dunk contest in the ACB spanish league.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVgfx6VtFHo
Feb.6 at 9:36 am
J-roc says:
Last year andre iguodala was robbed and no one will see him in the dunk contest again because the judges cheated him
Feb.6 at 10:30 am
Ron says:
I’d rather see 4 white dudes go at it. That would interest me more than Dwight Howard and Tyrus Thomas. Gerald Green should win this one, hands down. The NBA should have the dunk contest feature retired players, let’s see who can still get up with style. The way it going right now, next year we just might a sibling rivalry between Anthony and Candice Parker.
Feb.6 at 10:47 am
Joel O's says:
Why the heck are there so few contestants nowadays? Is it because the league thinks that there aren’t any dunks left to be invented? We fans need at least 6 dunk contestants for it to be fun. I hope the Sternbot is reading this column. Sigh. That said, if anyone in this year’s contest pulls of *The Dunk* in Slam’s latest issue… (Someone should try. Just not 15 times.)
Feb.6 at 1:02 pm
perkisabeast says:
Gerald Green will make you all believers…This kid has the sickest elevation you’ve ever seen.
Feb.6 at 1:52 pm
albie1kenobi says:
that hermann dunk was….uhh… not acceptable in the NBA? he may get a life time ban from the NBA if he even tries it. it’s almost as bad as finley’s half-assed cartwheel dunk back in the days. god. this is effing terrible. maybe i’ll just skip the no-star saturday this year.
Feb.6 at 2:25 pm
Myung says:
“It would make it two years in a row that the league’s most embarrasing team salvages the slightest bit of diginity with a dunk contest win.” Even though I’m a Hawks fan, I’d have to correct you and say if Gerald Green wins, it would make THREE years in a row (Josh Smith in 2005).
Feb.6 at 2:36 pm
Darksaber says:
Oh christ, thomas and dwight. 2 bigs, in a contest that lean mean highflyers win. The illusion of flying doesn’t set in when your legs are longer than the average person’s whole body. C’mon Stern, force the 2’s, 3’s and some 1’s to participate. That price guy from Sacto looked great early in the season, get A.Itoo back, just any flyer. Not Dwight and Thomas. What the f…?
Feb.6 at 2:37 pm
Darksaber says:
Maybe Nate can dunk over Carmelo, while he’s moonwalking.
Feb.7 at 6:54 pm
fred taylor says:
yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyo
Feb.7 at 6:55 pm
fred taylor says:
these rosters are awesome:)
Jul.20 at 12:42 am
Joey says:
man that 1 on 1 idea is awsome i would watch that. Cuz the dunk contsets have been horrible cept iggys one last year we need kobe, vince, richardson and james just to have a dunk contest not some other guys