Jaylen Brown Pushes for Star-Studded Dunk Contest Return, Highlighting One Key Challenge Ahead [Full story link in comment]
Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown wants stars to participate in the NBA’s Dunk Contest again, and he’s ready to lead by example.
After a recent game, Brown—a high-flying dunker for the Celtics—told reporters that while he’s never participated in a dunk contest, he’s ready to represent All-Stars in the event.
“Honestly, I think I’m in my athletic prime,” Brown said. “And I think it’ll be fun. I wish there were more top players and athletes that decided to compete in the dunk contest. I grew up watching that and that’s what I love. So hopefully that comes back around.”
Brown made his third All-Star team this year, averaging 22 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for a Celtics team that enters the All-Star break with a 43-12 record, a six-game winning streak and a commanding six-game lead for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Brown’s participation in the dunk contest brings some much-needed name recognition to an event that otherwise won’t feature much. Heat rookie Jaime Jacquez Jr. is a promising prospect, but he won’t move the needle among casual fans.
The other two participants—Jacob Toppin and Mac McClung—have played in a combined nine NBA games. McClung, last year’s winner, has not appeared in a game this year. Toppin, younger brother of Pacers forward Obi who won in 2022, plays occasional garbage-time minutes for the Knicks.
Brown is taking a bit of a risk by joining the field. Stars often don’t participate in the dunk contest in part because they are resting their bodies for a grueling playoff run, but also because—as former dunk champion Nate Robinson put it during a recent interview with HoopsHype—they don’t want to get embarrassed.
“I hate to say it: They don’t want to look silly, man,” Robinson said. “It’s about the reputation more than going out and just showing people that you’re human.”
The contest has had a precipitous fall from grace since its early days, when stars participated nearly annually. In the final season before the NBA/ABA merger, Julius “Dr. J” Erving won the ABA’s dunk contest, which was the first ever—a result of “three guys talking about what we could do to sell a few more tickets,” as one organizer put it.
The contest roared back to life in the 1980s. Three-time All-Star Larry Nance Sr. won it in 1984, and Dominique Wilkins—whose nickname, “The Human Highlight Film,” appropriately described his high-flying playing style—won it 1985.
Spud Webb, who was just 5-foot-6, memorably won the contest in 1986, before Michael Jordan claimed back-to-back wins in 1987 and 1988. Jordan’s victory over Wilkins in 1988, which he claimed with a dunk from the free-throw line that was awarded a 50, remains one of the most iconic dunk contests of all time.
Dunk contests have been memorable over the years for a variety of reasons. In 2016, Zach LaVine eked out a victory over Aaron Gordon in one of the most memorable showdowns of the last 20 years as both players pulled off increasingly impressive and creative dunks.
Generally, stars have driven the most compelling contests…when they agree to participate. Dwight Howard donned a Superman cape and won the contest in 2008. In 2011, rookie phenom Blake Griffin jumped over a car (albeit just the hood) to win. In 2000, Vince Carter defeated Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis in a contest so iconic that many contestants still imitate Carter’s “It’s over” gesture to this day.
Still, the problem seems to be getting stars to participate, and as a result, there are many much more forgettable contests sandwiched in between. Few people remember Glenn Robinson III’s win in 2017, or Jeremy Evans’ victory in 2012. Even more recent wins like Hamidou Diallo in 2019 or Anfernee Simons in 2021 don’t exactly spark memories.
So Brown will have plenty of pressure on him.
“If he stinks, I’m going to repost it,” Brown’s teammate, Jrue Holiday, said during a recent press conference.
Holiday (who, it should be noted, was joking) won’t be alone, which is the problem stars face when they enter the contest. The best-possible scenario: Brown wins, goes home with $105,000 and becomes one of the contest’s memorable winners.
The worst-case scenario? He performs poorly and becomes a target on social media.
“It’s a social media era where the internet runs the world,” Robinson told HoopsHype. “It’s like the internet is the bully now.
The worst-case scenario, of course, still isn’t that bad—Brown might be remembered as a dunker who couldn’t beat G-Leaguers, but then he will go back to being a likely All-NBA selection on a super-max contract playing for one of the best teams in the NBA.
But for stars who shy away from the dunk contest, one reason could be that the potential downside doesn’t outweigh the potential upside. If a star participates in the dunk contest, they better win.
“I think just my approach is just to have fun with it and put my own little style, my own little swag on things,” Brown said. “Everything has been done, but I feel like I bring a uniqueness. So I plan on putting my own style and bringing my own swag to it and just go from there.”
If he can do that, Brown could be remembered for a while. If he can’t, Jrue Holiday certainly won’t be the only one reposting it.