Marc Stein’s ESPN (wait – that should be the other way around) is reporting that the NBA has denied Dwight Howard’s request to raise the rim a couple feet for a couple of his plans in the Dunk Contest.
Now, you may think we’re all bent about this (and we are) because of wanting to see the dunks.
We do want to see them, but the bigger issue here is that the NBA is crushing Dwight’s earning potential. Big contest complaint – we’ve seen it all, right?
Well, here’s something we’ve never seen, would get a ton of excitement and talk working, and would cement Howard in history, at least in one way.
Last guy to make such a splash in the contest? Vince Carter, who made his name in 2000 by doing some things that hadn’t been done before. Much like Howard at this point, he was seen as a promising youngster on the way up.
He blew up the Dunk Contest, and the next morning, the dude’s entire career was launched. He was a star, and endorsers were slobbering all over him.
Now, all of this said, we expect the NBA to reverse this before the contest, mostly due to online bitching. Once again, we’ve changed the world.
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The Cavalier,
No one will ever be able to match my skills in the dunk contest. Hands down.
Yours truly,
Harold “Baby Jordan” Miner
When the Cavs signed him back in the ’96, my reaction was: “Well, they used to call him ‘Baby Jordan’ … so he’s got that going for him.” I even managed to convince myself Cleveland might be just what he needed … so dumb.
IMO the greatest Dunk Champion ever. Wins in ’93 & ’95. Would have won in ’94 but his back was hurt. Best dunker Cleveland ever had, minus Bob Sura.
LA Times just had an article on him a few days ago –
http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/usc/la-sp-crowe12feb12,1,3435686.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-coll-usc
OK, I see some of your points. We should turn this into a “Shortest-Man-to-Dunk” contest or a “Height-to-Leap-Index” contest. C’mon, gimme a break… there’s no doubt that everyone in the world was impressed by Dwight Howard’s dunks and wanted to see more. Plus, this was a chance for the NBA to get some more exposure for an up and coming young star. Instead, we can chalk up another “Slam Dunk Champion” along the Harold Minor/Isaiah Rider/Desmond Mason pedigree.
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