Winning by default is still winning, right?
It feels about as good as getting kicked in the groin. It ranks on the pride scale along with when you cut yourself shaving and others snicker when you forget to take the pieces of toilet paper off your face.
Indiana reserve Fred Jones won the 2004 NBA dunk contest by default, didn’t he? (Note: I love how he now goes by Fred instead of Freddie.)
Both Jones and two-time dunk contest champion Jason Richardson missed their final dunks. It made the championship round of the contest about as exciting as a history lecture.
Freddie didn’t win by default because Richardson missed his final dunk, though. He won by default from the competition.
My ideal dunk contestants would have been LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Richardson (for the sake of returning the champion), Jones and Shaquille O’Neal.
In all seriousness, I’m willing to bet that if Shaq jogged to the hoop, lifted his 340-pound frame into the air and dunked with enough power to break the backboard, there would be five “10s” across the board.
James needed to be in uniform just because of his star power. Instead, he sat on the sidelines and left early from his disappointment.
But seriously, the whole All-Star weekend itself has become a joke. Now the NBA has events like the Shooting Stars and the Skills Challenge . Would somebody please tell me what these are?
What will David Stern think of next?
Here’s an idea: How about the NBA Legends dunk contest? Bring back former winners Dee Brown (1991), Michael Jordan (1987, 88), Spud Webb (1986) and Dominique Wilkins (1985, 90). Now there’s a dunk contest I’d watch.
Better yet, how about the NBA Big Men/Pro-Am dunk contest. You could have teams. How about Shaq and
rapper Fat Joe versus Yao Ming and Warren Sapp?
Maybe even throw the Tim Duncan and David Wells team into the mix.
You know you would watch that contest.
Don’t get me entirely wrong. I still enjoy All-Star weekend and probably always will. I’ve watched the events since I was a youngster. What I don’t enjoy are the anticlimactic endings and all the self-loathing that occurs.
There’s no denying that Richardson’s pass to himself off the backboard where he caught the ball with his left hand, passed it between his legs, and then threw it down with his right hand was just plain crazy.
And Jones’ pass off the backboard to himself with full extension followed by a mean tomahawk slam was just incredible in its own right. Both dunks deserved 50s, and both dunks got 50s.
But when the best dunks come out in the first round, it hinders the competition. In other words, it means that Jones wins while sitting on the bench.
The NBA needs to find a way to bring credibility and excitement back to All-Star weekend. The NBA could change some of the rules, for starters.
Why does a dunk attempt that accidentally sees the ball fall into the hoop have to count?
NBA Stars should want to compete in these competitions. Jones wasn’t even going to come at one point because he wanted to vacation for the weekend.
But the weekend will always have its good points. No one will forget Denver’s Chris Andersen’s lovely hairstyle that required even more hair gel than Steve Lavin’s slick look.
And even though you won by default, Freddie, you still the man.