Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty Images
ORLANDO — There’s no way around it: Last night’s dunk contest left a little something to be desired. There were a few solid slams, but for the most part, it was a disappointment. Some have called it the worst ever and while that’s probably fair, I think we should hold off on that to see if any of them age well a little bit.
Kevin Durant has taken part in two consecutive All-Star Saturdays, both in the 3-point contest. And he’s had enough. He wants some big names in the dunk contest. He tweeted last night:
“It’s time for @KingJames, Mr Westbrook, Mr.Rose, and @DwyaneWade to get in the dunk contest.”
Dwyane Wade responded, “Not me but I agree w the others.”
Translated, KD is saying the dunk contest this year wasn’t great and the best way to make it good is to put the big names there. We all love the dunk contest. We keep coming back every year. Props, gimmicks, whatever — it’s a ton of fun. We want it to be good. Saturday’s, was not.
Durant’s plea is certainly valid. Big names have participated in the past like Kobe, Michael Jordan and Dr. J. Blake Griffin took part last year as a pretty big name. All four that Durant mentioned have never participated. LeBron has flirted with the idea but probably won’t ever do it. Westbrook tried his rookie year but didn’t make it and said it’s not his thing anymore. The other two just aren’t likely ever.
One guy though that wants back in is Serge Ibaka. Sunday morning he tweeted, “After seeing the dunk contest lastnight I would love to be in it again next year, I hope the @NBA would let me to.”
Ibaka took part in 2011 in Los Angeles and had a couple really nice efforts, but didn’t make it to the final. Which means he had a third dunk planned he didn’t get to use. So if he gets to go back next season, I’d expect Ibaka to be ready.
This All-Star game had it all: Kobe ball-hogging, LeBron clutch time choking, Russ nasty dunking, KD effortless scoring and Scotty timeout taking.
The only things missing were James Harden's beard and about 10 of Serge's monster rejections.
@Daniel Hawaii If by effortless scoring you mean durant taking more shots than anyone else and by ball-hogging you mean taking the same number of shots as Westbrook (but scoring more pts with those shots) than yes you are spot on
Skips gonna say westbrook let the east get close at the end..
@loplopol Russ's +/- was +3,Cp3 was -5.
@shiki @loplopol he also edged paul in post dunk theatrical poses
Post game interviewer called Kevin, Carmelo:) WTF
@OkcBaby All scorers who play the Small Forward position and hail from the DMV area look the same to him.
LeBron chokes again!!!
LeBron is getting killed on Twitter for not taking that last shot and committing the turnover instead. #NotClutch is trending. LOL.
nice season for durant...50 pt game...all star mvp...finals mvp?
@sutpen Let's not get ahead of ourselves!
@Borgothh @sutpen We're just hoping lol
KD MVP!!!!
Russ put on a show too. That dunk with about 2 minutes left off the feed from CP3 was straight nasty! I hope Coach K was watching and puts Russ on the Olympic team.
@Daniel Hawaii He missed so many dunks but made an important one
KD ALL-STAR MVP! WOOP WOOP
Kobe did NOT look happy
@JimboSlice He forgets who helped him to win MVP last season
@JimboSlice Screw Kobe
@Daniel Hawaii @JimboSlice Meh, Kobe's just obsessed with breaking each and everyone of MJ's records.
@Borgothh @JimboSlice @Daniel Spin it however you want but Kobe averages more assists than Durant. The lakers only other scores are bigs and they can't get their own shot. Additionally the lakers have the worst PGs in the league so obviously Kobe is going to have the ball in his hands a lot
@Aaron P @JimboSlice @Borgothh @Daniel Kobe leads the league in usage rate. That means he uses more of his teams possessions. Doesn't matter if he assists more or not.
@JimboSlice @Borgothh @Daniel Hawaii Get your facts straight - Durant took more shots than anyone (8 more than Kobe) plus Kobe averages 2+ more assists per game than Durant for their respective careers.
@Borgothh @Daniel Hawaii yeah. It's funny that people stopped calling Kobe a ball-hog but continued to rag on Iverson forevermore. At least when AI got on teams with great players he became a dime-dropping machine. Kobe goes to the ASG and ends up stopping the ball even more than usual just to stat pad.
@Daniel Hawaii I echo these thoughts exactly
@JimboSlice @Daniel Hawaii Totally. Kobe can go tell someone about his lunch table. Maybe Magic Johnson has time to hear about that.
Of all the things we wanted All Star MVP is the best!
Yay!
hell yea.. KD for ALL Star MVP, great night
Woo hoo! KD MVP!!!
Rose,18mins;Deng,6mins
KD,37mins;Russ,28mins
Brooks is a good guy
I caught up and can't fast forward. Damn.
In case you're reading this from the past. West wins.
lebron passes the last shot. surprising.
@sutpen He's a dodger.
@FloppyPunch! @sutpen why is he scared of taking the final shot?
@ThunderWins @FloppyPunch! @sutpen He tried passing a terrible shot for an open guy. I don't care that the west won, Lebron was far and away the MVP of this game.
I'm actually impressed with this game so far.. obviously offensively dominated, but both sides are playing some solid defense and actually competing for the ball and.. there is plenty of movement going on, and no one athlete is really hogging the shots, a hell of a change from years past
@ChilamBilam12 KD is kinda the hog, lets be honest :p I'm totally okay with it though, I want him to score 100 haha
KD had 13 shot,Russ had 11,Brooks played Kobe as Harden without passing
It looks like a real game,not an all star game
@shiki it looks loads better than last year's game for sure.
can't wait til they start playing defense.
When you look at the West starters though, KD, Kobe and CP3 are probably the three biggest competitors out there. HATE losing. the East look like they're just there to party.
@Stringer Bell Dwight is playing like he's hungover
I know we're busy talking about the game but it really says something that I havent had ANY interest in the all-star weekend stuff this year. Normally my whole world shuts down for it.
But just watched the Dunk Contest... How in the heck did Paul George not win?
@JimboSlice If he hits that sticker reverse dunk the first time he wins easily I bet. But I think when a guy has to try it 4 or more times before getting it it loses something.
@JimboSlice Terrible Dunk contest. It was won based on the only nice/innovative dunk all night.
@Stringer Bell The dunk contest was a complete embarrassment.
those LA guys cannot see KD
@shiki Has Kobe passed the ball yet?
@Old Man Game @shiki He's thrown a lob to Bynum who was so shocked Kobe passed he fumbled it.
But that's it. KD lookin nice with 7pts, 3 rebs, 2asts