The Saturday night before the NBA All Star Game, there are a series of fun activities showcasing the talents of various NBA players. However, this year was less than stellar. An event that used to be one of my favorites to watch was the Slam Dunk Contest. This year it was subpar at best. Let me tell you why.

I believe that if there are bigger names in the contest, the dunk contest will return to its former glory. Back in the day, players like Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins competed and put on classic battles still talked about to this day. Even stars like Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Blake Griffin have competed in the contest over the past decade. This year, the final round was Glenn Robinson III vs. Derrick Jones Jr. Now, before you click off this article to google those players, they definitely played their hearts out and did their best to put on a show. However, with the clear fan-favorite, Aaron Gordon, being eliminated early in the tournament, the rest of the night never lived up to the hype.

Aside from Aaron Gordon, who put on an electric show in last year’s competition but could not bring home the championship, the other three contestants were not names I would like to see associated with this contest. Deandre Jordan is very familiar with the slam dunk as he is 6’11. He leads the league in dunks with 165. However,  I did not think that he could do fancy dunks that would shock the crowd. As it turns out, I was right. Yes, one of his dunks was using his length to jump over the famous DJ Khaled, but not enough to stir a huge uproar of excitement.

Derrick Jones Jr. has 3 career points as an NBA player and none of those are slam dunks. Yes, he has some cool YouTube videos displaying his dunking talents in college, but for the NBA dunk contest, an NBA dunker should compete.

Glenn Robinson III averages about 6 points a game and has some decent dunks in his short NBA career thus far. Nonetheless, it is really nothing to write home about. Again, he is not a household name I would put into the dunk contest, but he took home the gold and won the Slam Dunk Contest. However, he will always be associated with the sub-par dunk contest of 2017.

How can we fix the contest in the future?

Although many small name players get their big chance in the limelight during the dunk contest, I think we should leave it to the big names. I would much rather see Dwight Howard try to reclaim his slam dunk title, or Giannis Antetokounmpo get revenge from his performance two years ago. Kevin Durant, Rudy Gobert, Andrew Wiggins, and many more are not only big names, but are among the leaders in dunks this year. Let’s say some players need more motivation than an envelope in the mail asking them to participate in the contest. I think fans should vote for who they want to see in the contest. This may be the extra motivation to get players over the fence if they cannot decide. Players can nominate themselves to the contest and the top four with the most fan votes will get in. Players can hype up themselves and draw more attention to the Dunk Contest. This way, the fan vote aspect is satisfied, and all players who wish to compete get a fair chance.

Hopefully, I am not the only one who sees room for improvement in the Slam Dunk Contest and next year things will be different.