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Despite the excitement surrounding this year's NBA Slam Dunk Contest, fans ended up with another letdown. Even the participation of Boston Celtics All-Star guard Jaylen Brown was not enough to make this year's contest fun for the fans.
Fans were not impressed with how the contestants performed, even with Brown competing against last year's champion, Mac McClung. One of Brown's dunks was met with a cacophony of boos.
With the NBA Slam Dunk Contest being another disappointment this year, many believe the league should scrap it. Even former NBA champion Paul Pierce feels the same way. He explained on X why the dunk contest should end.
"The Dunk contest is like that Xgirl friend u keep going back to, thinking u can regain that spark u once had," Pierce tweeted. "At some point u just gotta let her go move on to something else."
There has been an evident lack of interest from All-Star caliber players to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest for several years. And adding to it, the dwindling interest from fans through the years could push the NBA to make some changes.
Whether the league will make drastic changes to the format or the rules or drop it remains to be seen, but fans want to see some changes to make it fun again.
Recapping the 2024 NBA Slam Dunk Contest
This year's NBA Slam Dunk Contest featured two rookies, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Jacob Toppin. Last year's champion, Mac McClung, now playing for the Orlando Magic's G-league affiliate, the Osceola Magic, was there to defend his crown. And Jaylen Brown completed the list of contestants.
Jaquez Jr. was the first player to go and started strong by jumping over Shaquille O'Neal for a score of 47.4. Toppin followed up by jumping over his brother Obi Toppin for a reverse slam for a score of 47.8. Brown was next to go, performing a windmill slam for a score of 48.8.
McClung rounded out the first set of dunks by running baseline toward a person who stood under the rim while the ball was in their hands. McClung jumped over them, grabbed the ball from them, and reverse-slammed it for 48.0.
Everyone got to perform a second dunk for the first round, but Toppin and Jaquez couldn't overcome McClung's and Brown's lead. This was despite Brown being showered with boos for his last attempt of the first round.
In the final round of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Brown started by paying tribute to Terrence Clarke through a 360-windmill dunk for a score of 48.6. McClung countered it by jumping over a person sitting on another's shoulders, earning a score of 48.8.
Brown brought out Donovan Mitchell for his last dunk. He held the ball up for him as he went for a left-handed dunk for a score of 49.2. McClung brought out Shaq one last time for his dunk. He asked the NBA legend to hold the ball above his head while McClung jumped over him for a reverse slam.
His dunk earned him a score of 50 from all the judges, allowing him to beat Brown and retain the NBA Slam Dunk Contest title.
Guess the Bulls players in this quiz and it's not going to be easy!
