More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

[23]

- The 2012 Sprite Slam Dunk in Orlando will feature a series of firsts, including four first-time participants, a new single-round format in which the winner will be chosen solely by fan vote, and the introduction of fan voting via Twitter.
The four players who will vie for the Sprite Slam Dunk championship on Feb. 25, at Amway Center in Orlando (TNT, 8 p.m. ET) include the Houston Rockets' Chase Budinger, the Indiana Pacers' Paul George, the New York Knicks' Iman Shumpert, and the Minnesota Timberwolves' Derrick Williams.

A new format will be implemented for the 2012 competition. The contest will consist of only one round and each competitor will execute three dunks. Fan voting will open after all four players have completed their first dunk. Previously, the Sprite Slam Dunk contest consisted of two rounds, with the first round scored by a panel of judges which determined two finalists.
Beginning this year, only fan voting will be utilized in determining the winner and voting also will expand to social media. For the first time ever, fans will be able to cast votes on Twitter by posting a corresponding letter assigned to each dunker along with the hashtag #SpriteSlam. Since 2008, fans have determined the winner of the Sprite Slam Dunk through SMS TXT and voting on NBA.com as part of the "They Dunk. You Decide" campaign...


Participants

Iman Shumpert
Chase Budinger
Paul George
Derrick Williams

[slimm44]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Not to be a Debbie downer, but that doesn't sound very appealing. Fans should be able to vote in contestants. THAT would be good stuff.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Like I said in the All Star Thread, time to kill this thing.

Got alot of good, GREAT memories from this, but over the last few years it's either remained stale or gotten worse instead of the opposite.

[23]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Its because they keep changing it man

This is one thing they never should have started messing with so much

No stars in this one either... looking like a down year

[1Rose]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

I don't know, I don't want to see it go.

Even though technically, it is meaningless, it has provided a lot of memorable moments throughout the years.

I think just axing it all together would be a bad idea.

[The 24th Letter]

No stars in this one either... looking like a down year

This may actually make it a good year....

[st0rmb11]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

I don't mind the new format (1 round, 3 dunks)

I just hate letting fans vote. Fans having a vote is why Blake Griffin won last year, when, in actuality, he was the 4th best dunker in the contest.

[SteelersFreak]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

It'll be a disaster this year and it'll return to the old format next year.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Yeah the 3 dunk limit I don't mind as much.

Not having any stars in it might be a good thing but letting the fans get involved in this? No, keep them out of this.

[Weeks]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

We gotta see the ultimate showdown:

LeBron
v.
Blake
v.
Dwight
v.
Nate Rob

That would be epic

Edit: If they tried...

[XenoZograscope]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Wow only 1 round now?!...that sucks, I hope the dunk contest will be pretty decent this year.

[Champion8877]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

ehhh this has just been getting worse and worse each year. its no longer who can throw down the best, its now a contest on who has the funniest/most original props with them. plus no stars, which i guess in a way could be a good thing, but man it would be fun to see blake, LBJ, and dwight all going at it.

[VDusen04]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Its because they keep changing it man

This is one thing they never should have started messing with so much

Completely agree. Six competitors. Two rounds. Three finalists. Real judges.

[buckeye02]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Scrap the whole thing. Why won't star player participate in this event? It's not like the homerun derby where you can mess up the timing of your swing or anything. I don't want to hear about the injury excuse either, because they will be playing in the actual all-star game.

Over/under, Chase Budinger getting 10% of the vote?

[wwharton]

Re: More Slam Dunk Contest Changes

Scrap the whole thing. Why won't star player participate in this event? It's not like the homerun derby where you can mess up the timing of your swing or anything. I don't want to hear about the injury excuse either, because they will be playing in the actual all-star game.

Over/under, Chase Budinger getting 10% of the vote?

In terms of physical effort, the dunk contest is a bigger injury risk than the All Star game. Sad but true.