McCron, 2023 All-Star Smash Dunk King.
- saved this year's dunk contest, and probably more than this year.
— and it could open a new path for the Slam Dunk Contest and even All-Star Weekend.
When he was invited, he was still developing the alliance, and he looked at it: white, 188 cm tall, 188 cm arm span, standing 7 feet 10, not good in any way.
But as soon as it flew, it was amazing.
The reach that used to limit McCron's basketball career may have become his selling point today. I looked at his last snap and thought: if it were Peak LaVine or Gordon, they might be able to try this move too - but both of them are much taller than McCron.
His dunk video has long been circulated. 720-degree, spinning windmills don't look at basket buckles, and so on, but today it was on the big stage:
"A small man from the Development League, overriding the stars of the NBA."
Good process, good story.
And such a story is interesting enough - the dunk contest, isn't it just for fun?
In 1976, the ABA held its first slam dunk contest, not for serious purposes, of course, or for fun.
At the time, the ABA billed itself as a bell-and-whistle, street-style entertainment league, headed by the explosive head Dr. J, against the NBA that was "a bit like college basketball, but more ferocious" (Jerry Sloan put it) and "the explosive scoring era of the 1960s is over, and everyone values defense" (Jerry West put it). The Iceman attempted a 360-degree dunk attempt. Skywalker played with the big windmill. Finally, Dr. J shook the court with a free-throw line dunk.
The Iceman went on to the NBA to win four scoring titles, and Skywalker competed with him for the 1978 scoring title and scored 73 points in a single game, not to mention Dr. J. Now the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, I am afraid that such a big name lineup will not be able to gather. Without him:
At that time, there were few basketball tricks, and superstars were happy to entertain the public.
What is the significance of the Slam Dunk Contest?
It's pointless, it's just a good look!
The NBA held the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in 1984. At the age of 34, Dr. J went to participate and lost to Larry Nance's windmill.
To put it another way: Dr. J's identity as a dunk grandmaster did not say that he cherished the feathers.
It was indeed a time of entertainment for all.
Digression: Also in 1984, Stern took office and Jordan entered the industry. As we all know, it was one of the most important years in NBA history.
The slam dunk contest of the 1980s was still star-studded. Jordan, Wilkins, and the gliders played back and forth, and Jordan and Wilkins even smelled of gunpowder in those years.
The 170 cm potato Weber played the little man dunk to the extreme, playing with his 360-degree turn dunk and aerial catch-up dunk.
Jordan's final blow in the 1987 Dunk Contest, his body tilted almost parallel to the floor, flew into a horizontal line, directly cut to the basket, "kiss the basket" dunk; In 1988, he completed the "kiss basket" after the aerial closing stretch, followed by the famous free-throw line dunk.
Dominic Wilkins finished throwing a rebound, jumping in front of the free throw line, breaking his body in half in 1988, and then the famous Full Moon Windmill.
The aesthetics of small people, flying and violence have all been taken to the extreme by them.
So everyone started to put on the equipment:
In 1986, Gerard Wilkins flew a chair for a free-throw line dunk.
In 1991, Dee Brown won the championship with a blindfolded dunk with his left hand.
Ceballos blindfolded his eyes with a strip of cloth in 1992 and made a blind button.
In 1996, Brent Barry became the dunk king - after hitting the free-throw line, he unfastened his jacket and revealed the words: "White people can fly."
By the 21st century, it's everything we're familiar with, tributes mixed with fancy:
Nate Robinson flies over Webb; Dwight Howard dunks in a Superman cape; Nate Robinson stepped over Dwight for a dunk; Gerard Green blows candle dunks and barefoot dunks; Griffin Speeder Dunk; Mickey dunks double baskets.
There are more and more tricks, but the freshness is also easy.
It is generally recognized that the year of Carter and Francis in 2000, and the years of LaVine vs Gordon, are the glorious years of the 21st century dunk contest: these of them - I personally think, plus the two years when Richardson won the championship, his dunk was not the best, but the determination to challenge the difficulty was really rare at the time - just without the help of gimmicks, purely on its own, plus different styles, against wonderful scenes.
But such a good dunk contest also depends on the year: Carter, LaVine and Gordon, who are young and strong and spirited, after all, do not have them every year; Superstars aren't as willing to play as they were in the 1980s; The fancy gimmicks were aesthetically fatigued by Dwight and Nate.
Where to find it?
Therefore, McCron's victory this year is a good phenomenon and a good direction:
Don't be too rigid in thinking, don't limit yourself to NBA 30 teams; The NBA is not new, look for the development league.
Or even push a little further?
Can it even be limited to a dunk contest?
Three-point contests, skill contests, pulling development leagues or even folk sharpshooters? Those who have great skills, but because of the shortcomings - mostly physical combat talent - can not play in the NBA, please also come?
To put it bluntly, you have to think clearly:
All-Star Weekend, is it to stick to the rules, or to accept all rivers and try to watch it as much as possible?
Think about these fancy performances on the All-Star Weekend, which were not controversial; Usually everyone plays games, load management, data control, is already quite calculated, it is rare to have a slightly loose stage, you can work wantonly.
After all, before 1984, there was no dunk contest in the NBA, and all this actually started from scratch, to this day.
At the beginning of the establishment of the slam dunk competition, Dr. J did not shy about success or failure, and came to play hard, just to entertain the public; Scoring king-level superstars like Jordan and Wilkins go to the dunk contest and compete with Webb as a substitute, which makes everyone have fun.
As All-Star Weekend was all about, you have to make everyone love it first – and that's all about the rest.
If the all-star weekend has no entertainment value, the big names refuse to come, the little brother can't play, every year knowing that it is not interesting, and you have to pretend to be very prosperous, saying that it is to entertain the public, but in fact it is familiar with the face perfunctory, then what is the meaning?