The NBA Dunk Contest officially needs to be retired

Feb 19, 2022; Cleveland, OH, USA; New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin (left) shakes hands with Golden State Warriors forward Juan Toscano-Anderson (95) (right) after the Slam Dunk Contest during the 2022 NBA All-Star Saturday Night at Rocket Mortgage Field House. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

NBA All-Star Weekend got started on Friday with the Celebrity Game and NBA Rising Stars Challenge, and continued into Saturday with the Skills Challenge, NBA Three-Point Contest, and NBA Dunk Contest.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ team won the Skills Competition, with Evan Mobley nailing a half-court shot, and Karl-Anthony Towns become the first big man to win the Three-Point Contest since Kevin Love in 2021.

And then there was the Dunk Contest…

The NBA Dunk Contest officially needs to be retired

Jalen Green, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Cole Anthony, and Obi Toppin competed in the competition, and unfortunately, it was one of the worst-received Dunk Contests in recent memory. The only real highlight was Toscano-Anderson’s custom Warriors jersey (which was awesome).

In the first round of the competition, the dunkers went 7-for-25 on dunks. Green alone was 1-for-9 on his attempt. It was a rough showing, to say the least.

At this point in history, the unfortunate reality is that there may not be many dunks left. With how many different dunks have been done, it may be time to retire the competition altogether.

For two years in a row, there have been zero 50s recorded in the NBA Dunk Contest, breaking the 20-year run from 2001-2020 where there was at least one 50 every season.

This was one of the many solutions thrown around on Twitter after the event. Seemingly no one enjoyed it, and everyone was trying to come up with their own solution to the very clear problem.

Some suggested playing H–O-R-S-E with dunks (but calling it D-U-N-K), some said they should have to match each other, and others were ready to completely do away with the event.

Ideas to replace it include a 1-v-1 competition, bringing back the Shooting Stars challenge that people used to love, and other ideas that would showcase the NBA’s top talent.

But if one thing has become increasingly clear, it’s that there’s an issue with the NBA Dunk Contest. And if nothing happens to change it, then getting rid of it altogether might be the only answer.