Until Further Notice The Dunk Contest Is Not Back

Joe Murphy. Getty Images.

I think we all understand that this year's dunk contest comes at a weird time. It wasn't your standard dunk contest and I'm not really sure what my expectations were heading in. I've always been more of a 3pt contest kind of guy. With no crowd, it doesn't feel like the dunk contest. I need these type of reactions

so already I wasn't expecting much. I have to say, the night got off to a great start with Cassius Stanley's first dunk

I won't sit here and tell you that was the first time we've all seen that dunk. But you cannot deny how clean it was. That was about as perfect a result as you could get when attempting that dunk and there's something to be said for that. Don't tell that to Josh Smith though. How this got a 44 with an 8 coming from Smith made me instantly hate what I was watching. That was terrible. Then we had Obi's first attempt which I actually liked. Credit the creativity and someone who also finished his dunk clean on the first attempt

His 48 made sense. 

Compare that to Simons' first dunk which got a 46, and the judging was a little suspect early.

Here's the thing with me and the dunk contest. If you play to nostalgia, I'm going to eat it right up. You add in a throwback Raptors jersey and you've all but guaranteed I'mg going to love your dunk if you pull it off. That's exactly what Simons did

No surprise that was a 49. Obi then came right back with a pretty sick windmill

which would have been better had he not missed it on his first attempt. That's always a pretty big downer. But here's where things got a little weak for me. If your dunk is predicated on you kissing the rim, I'm one of those people out there that believe you should actually kiss the rim

You have to commit the entire way. If it fucks up your face well that's on you for deciding to do a dunk where you had to kiss the rim. Nobody made you do that. I'm not sure how you can win if you don't actually kiss the rim. 

I don't think anyone out there is going to be rushing to say that this dunk contest brought the event back. It probably did more harm than good if we're being honest. Cool for Anfernee Simons though to become the first ever Blazer to win it.