How to make the 2020 NBA Slam Dunk Contest the best of all time

It’d require expanding the field and convincing big names to participate, but some have already thrown their hat into the ring.

The 2019 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was a success and a failure, wrapped into one All-Star Saturday night-capping event. It was a success because Hamidou Diallo jumped over Shaquille O’Neal, then put his elbow in the rim before revealing a Superman logo beneath his jersey.

It was a failure because no dunk other than Diallo’s show-stopper lived up to the hype.

What this dunk contest did, though, was set the scene for a wild competition in 2020 that could be one of the greatest of all-time if everyone participates. The NBA could have so many incredible dunkers in the league that four slots is not enough.

We need eight dunkers. Eight of the best in the world, all incentivized to participate in a big blowout competition. Plus, the dunk contest should be turned into an elimination-style tournament.

Here’s how the contestants would be grouped.

The Greats: Gordon vs. LaVine

These two dunkers combined for the best dunk contest we’ve seen in a long, long time. The NBA has to double up. Run it back on them.

No matter whose side you stood on, most agree that 2016 was the best dunk contest of the century, easily. Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon went into overtime, with no one backing down. In the end, LaVine won with a bit of controversy — he was given a 50 for doing a slightly worse version of a dunk Gordon had done on his previous attempt.

Still, watching LaVine dunk is like poetry in motion, and Gordon is one giant muscle who shouldn’t be able to fly through the air, but can do so anyway.

We need a rematch, and we might get it. Gordon already told Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes that he’s in.

LaVine has been less explicit, but he posted this on his Instagram account last week:

Time flies. Best Dunk Contest of our generation. Rematch one day? @youngheirgordon

The event is also in Chicago, LaVine’s home basketball city. So, let’s make it happen.

The Stars: Giannis vs. Mitchell

Because you shouldn’t really have a Slam Dunk Contest without some star power, though we often do. Giannis Antetokounmpo, though, suggested that might change next year.

Thumbs all the way up, Giannis. Thumbs all the way up.

Yes, Antetokounmpo was absolutely terrible when he competed in the dunk contest in 2015. He didn’t make a dunk in his first round and his second dunk was pretty underwhelming.

But this was well before he was in the running for best basketball player on planet Namek, and also well before he put on a ridiculous amount of muscle. Put Giannis in the dunk contest, and let him fly.

He could go up against Donovan Mitchell, who won the 2018 dunk contest then opted against defending his crown this time around. He tweeted that he’d compete in the contest if Antetokounmpo joins the crowd.

Though it’s not remembered fondly, Mitchell’s performance in 2018 was pretty exciting. To recap, he:

• Brought a second basket out and used its backboard to throw an oop off of (48)
• Jumped over Kevin Hart and two other small people, who were crouching down (50)
• Threw it off the glass then cradle-windmilled it (50)
• Paid homage to Vince Carter with the reverse 360 windmill (48)

His creativity will be a fun matchup against Antetokounmpo’s size.

The rookies: Zion vs. Ja

The NBA has two ridiculous high-flyers entering the league. It’s only right to pit them against one another.

There’s a strong chance Zion Williamson gets selected No. 1 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. No first-overall pick has ever won the Slam Dunk Contest in his rookie season except Blake Griffin, and Griffin missed his actual rookie season with a broken kneecap.

Should he enter, Williamson would be the favorite to end that drought. He’s a show-stopper that makes 360 dunks look like graceful pirouettes in midair.

Ja Morant, on the other hand, can get all the way up. Wanna know how I know? He jumped over FOUR TEAMMATES for a practice dunk.

Morant may not go No. 1, but he certainly will not go lower than pick No. 4 in this year’s NBA Draft. Ja vs. Zion in the first round is what the world needs to see.

The Champion vs his challenger:

Diallo has to defend his crown against someone he may have taken it from. Diallo’s dunk over Shaq was the best part of the 2019 Dunk Contest, but his other dunks didn’t necessarily shut the building down. Still, he was the most consistent contestant and his dunk will be remembered for years.

He has to defend his crown against someone. Our suggestion: Derrick Jones Jr.

If Jones never broke his knee against the Knicks in late January, it could have been him hoisting the 2019 Slam Dunk contest trophy. Instead, Diallo was his injury replacement. Now, he has to defend that title against the person he stole it from.

OK — it’s not necessarily stolen, but that’s the storyline here. There is no Diallo if it wasn’t for Jones’ injury. And Jones was one of the highest of high flyers — it’s how he got his call up from the D-League to the Phoenix Suns years ago. Though he didn’t win in 2017, Jones did uncork some of the best dunks of the competition.

If Jones can’t go, Diallo’s teammate, Terrance Ferguson, is the replacement. I didn’t even know Ferguson had rise until Kofie Yeboah pointed it out in our slack DM’s. Here’s how that conversation went:

Me: Kofie I have seven dunk contest participants, who am I missing?
Kofie: Terrance Ferguson
Me: Why?
Kofie:

Also Kofie: Or this

Me: Oh my God.
Kofie: Yeah.

Yeah. Terrance Ferguson has to be in this, and he should be challenging the champion immediately.

Here’s what the tournament bracket would look like

Now we just need the players to fully embrace it. Please, NBA, do everything in your power to convince them to participate.

It’ll be the 20th anniversary of Vince Carter shutting it down. This needs to be special.

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