Zion Williamson gives himself a 2-year window to do the NBA dunk contest, names his Mount Rushmore of dunkers
The dunk contest could use a name like Zion Williamson.
Long gone are the days when the NBA’s slam dunk contest felt like a can’t-miss event — the days when you would see all-stars and future all-stars compete against other high-profile high-flyers.
Anyone tuning in Saturday night for the 2023 edition is doing so out of tradition or for the slight chance that a group of mostly unknowns put on an unexpected great show, like Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon in 2016. But that’s not the expectation. Expectations died when superstars and rising stars decided the dunk contest wasn’t worth their time.
No disrespect to Mac McClung or any of the other participants this year, but if FTW had its way, we’d want to see players like Ja Morant and Zion Williamson take flight. We might be in luck soon.
Williamson, an all-star starter sitting due to injury, said the dunk contest is something he’d consider doing in the future.
“I would consider doing it. I’ll take it into heavy consideration,” Williamson said in a conversation with FTW about joining the roster of Starry, the NBA’s newest official soft drink. “If I am to do it, I’ll probably do it in the next two years.”
Williamson, whose explosive in-game dunks make him an enticing candidate, isn’t just talking either. He’s a student of the dunk contest, rattling off names of players who won the contest before he was even born when asked about his Mount Rushmore of dunkers.
Michael Jordan. Vince Carter. Julius “Dr. J” Erving. LeBron James.
“No. 1, I would have Mike. Mike wasn’t only an in-game dunker — dunking on people, trick dunks — he also went back-to-back in the dunk contest, Williamson said. “Gotta put Vince Carter right next to him. Julius Erving, out of respect. That free-throw line dunk with the fro, everything he did at Rucker Park, iconic. And I gotta put LeBron at fourth.”
It’s encouraging to hear a player who was drafted No. 1 overall and already has two all-star nods early in his career say he’d consider something that increasingly seems to be below a player of his stature. Hopefully he does do it in the next two years and brings a new life to the dunk contest.