November 27, 2008 10:30 am  |  44 Comments

Dwight Howard May Skip Dunk Contest


by Marcel Mutoni

Last February, Dwight Howard brought back some excitement (for the first time in eons) to what is often billed as the League’s signature event during All-Star Weekend. Meh. He doesn’t particularly feel like going through it all again this year.

Not wanting to soil the good feeling from his triumph, Howard says he might sit out the flight-fest this time around, and give someone else a chance.

From ESPN:

“I could top what I did last year in the dunk contest; I do have a lot of ideas. I’m still hoping to do it but Superman and that whole weekend…It opened up so many doors in my life, and it showed my personality for people who didn’t know Dwight Howard.”

“There’s a good saying, ‘Quit while you’re ahead,’ ” Howard said. “I thought I did a great job at the dunk contest last year. I think everybody liked it. I don’t want to mess that up.”

Howard is, of course, fully entitled to his decision not to participate in this year’s event. The season is a long one, made longer by a hectic summer that preceded it, and this could be a good chance for him to get some rest during the weekend.

But why tease us, Dwight? Why say you can top what you did last year and not follow through with it? Not cool.

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This story is filed under: NBA, The Wire, Top News

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  • Andy Posted: Nov.27 at 10:32 am
    Meh, if it means he spends that hour and a half working on his free throws, then it’s all good, as far as I’m concerned.

  • Paps Posted: Nov.27 at 10:55 am
    How can a half hour of a dunk contest be tiring. He’s still going to play in the all star game.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Nov.27 at 11:08 am
    It wasn’t a dunk anyway. Bye.

  • Roy Posted: Nov.27 at 11:21 am
    Co-sign Russ. :D

  • matt Posted: Nov.27 at 11:55 am
    he could get some advice from jj how to shoot free throws …. and how can 4 dunks be tiring when you dunk at least 4 times in every game….. but in 1 point he’s right, you got to leave when you re on top.

  • the baconator Posted: Nov.27 at 12:08 pm
    Russ, it’s spoilsports like you that ruin that dunk. Yes, it wasn’t a true dunk, but regardless: it’s one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. Besides, I would argue that what he did (throwing a basketball through the hoop while taking off from inside the free throw line) is even harder to pull off than a dunk

  • Boing Dynasty Posted: Nov.27 at 12:15 pm
    It MAY be harder, it in still, not a dunk.

  • Keith Posted: Nov.27 at 12:22 pm
    I wasn’t even a dunk, Dwight.

  • underdog Posted: Nov.27 at 12:43 pm
    That was the sickest layup, ever. I adimt that.

  • Garrett Posted: Nov.27 at 1:28 pm
    Failing to defend your dunk title should be called Pulling A Vince. Don’t pull a Vince, Dwight. Don’t.

  • Gerard Himself Posted: Nov.27 at 2:11 pm
    Flight Howard must take off again.

  • Mike Posted: Nov.27 at 2:12 pm
    @ Garret. My thoughts exactly. You can go around saying you have a big suprise that now one has ever seen before and not do it.

  • Mike Posted: Nov.27 at 2:13 pm
    Just put it on youtube again before the dunk contest like you did last time, then don’t do the contest.

  • Josh D Posted: Nov.27 at 2:46 pm
    NOOOOOOOOOOO!

  • Holy Baller Posted: Nov.27 at 5:04 pm
    Ok if I shoot a three and it spins and bounces around and ends up sitting motionless on the back of the rim (which has happened before), what good is that? Sure it was harder than hitting a three, but was it worth anything? No. That is what Dwight’s dunk was like last year. He knew he wasn’t going to make the dunk so he chunked it at the rim and somehow made it, then acted like he meant to do it all along.

  • Holy Baller Posted: Nov.27 at 5:04 pm
    I do agree that he’s an awesome dunker, but I fail to see how you can win a DUNK contest if you don’t actually DUNK it.

  • Dma Posted: Nov.27 at 5:10 pm
    remind me how Freddie Jones won his dunk title again?

  • The Ghost of Wilt Chamberlain Posted: Nov.27 at 5:36 pm
    Why does everyone only ever talk about the Superman “dunk”? It was clearly the most boring, unoriginal dunk in the entire competition! Just because he puts on a cape it makes the dunk spectacular? None of you have any idea!

  • Moose Posted: Nov.27 at 5:50 pm
    True dat, Josh D. You beat me to it, homie. And, uhhh, Ghost of Wilt Chamberlain, there are a couple things. He got AIR on that dunk. Especially for a big guy. Number 2: He bounced it off the backboard and stuff too. The sh!t was incredible.

  • I am the walrus Posted: Nov.27 at 6:13 pm
    Soon they gonna hav the nba layup contest. Dwight will hav to contest in that.

  • LeeVan Posted: Nov.27 at 6:54 pm
    Ghost of Wilt- I feel you, stilt. Everybody raved about Gerald Greene’s “cupcake” dunk, but he didn’t really do anything special with the actual dunk. Any good leaper in the league could blow at the rim while putting in a basic dunk.
    Unless these “entertaining” gimmicks involve pulling off an incredible dunk, they have no place in a SLAM DUNK competition.

  • pennydunk_1 Posted: Nov.27 at 7:34 pm
    Everybody’s a critic

  • Garrett Posted: Nov.27 at 7:45 pm
    The gimmicks has gots to go. Just come out and dunk a windmill or a 360 or just flail around and kick your legs a lot. But dunk it HARD. That’s the key. I can watch guys do Harold Miner-esque reverse dunks all day, as long as they KILL IT. Get rid of the weak stuff.

  • the baconator Posted: Nov.27 at 8:03 pm
    Holy Baller, I would agree with you, except that your example was a complete accident. You didn’t mean to make the ball stop on the rim, yet it did. Dwight went up for the monster dunk, yet realized he couldn’t make it, so he instead threw it through- on purpose. I don’t doubt he could’ve made the dunk if he tried it again, but everyone knows dunks like that are the best the first time they’re unveiled. In my opinion, it was a case of the judges simply saying, Yes we could count it as a miss and make him do it again, or we could count it as successful and give the crowd what they want.

  • PDoug Posted: Nov.27 at 8:47 pm
    hey everyone saying it wasn’t a dunk and it sucked heres something: you do better. you get more air. you win an nba dunk contest even supposedly “not dunking it”

  • matt Posted: Nov.27 at 11:40 pm
    tha defniition of a dunk putting tha ball thru tha hoop wid a downwards motion… so it wuld b a dunk?

  • Kieran Posted: Nov.27 at 11:58 pm
    Dwight is making the right choice he aint gonna come with anything better (regardless of what he claims)and he aint gonna get everybody as hyped as last year, it makes sense.

  • CC Posted: Nov.28 at 1:35 am
    I agree with Garrett the gimmick dunks need to go

  • CiB! Posted: Nov.28 at 3:36 am
    cosign pennydunk…ughh…

  • NosebleedSeats Posted: Nov.28 at 5:20 am
    Nothing is better than the backboard dunk…nothing!

  • vaL Posted: Nov.28 at 6:02 am
    Man, SUPERMAN Needs to JOIN!!!!

  • Andy Posted: Nov.28 at 6:49 am
    Ok, yes, it wasn’t technically a dunk. But a layup? Really? C’mon, people, you can find a better definition for it than that.

  • jaywhy Posted: Nov.28 at 7:05 am
    great… now we can have an unbiased competition…

  • nastierthanyou Posted: Nov.28 at 8:40 am
    Maybe 3 of you here can get up for the get down so none of your opinions matter. DH thanks for the memories

  • Garrett Posted: Nov.28 at 8:44 am
    Just because we can’t dunk our opinions don’t matter? I can dunk on a 9-foot rim, so does that mean I can have an opinion on a dunk? Maybe I shouldn’t have any opinions on the NBA at all since I don’t play in the league? Lame.

  • The Real Posted: Nov.28 at 9:44 am
    A dunk is throwing the ball in a downward motion through the hoop. Where does it say you have to touch the rim your hands? It doesn’t, thats why you should all stop hiding behind your monitors and contribute a little better. Amazingly you all seem to be failing to mention the other dunks he did that night, most of which havn’t been seen before. The dunk contest was saved last year, but if you want it to go back to Harold Minor standards (who did the same routine 2 years running) then please go sit on youtube and live in the past.

  • Hisham Posted: Nov.28 at 10:39 am
    Well maybe not a dunk but definitely a throwdown. It can’t be a layUP, because the ball didn’t go UP after it left his hand, it went DOWN. Hard. Yes, it was a throwdown

  • nastierthanyou Posted: Nov.28 at 1:46 pm
    “I can dunk on a 9 ft rim” Nuff Said

  • Ballabovetheborder Posted: Dec.4 at 4:40 pm
    [...] With both Dwight Howard and Rudy Gay reluctant to participate in this year’s dunk contest, and Jamario Moon playing like the 12th man on a WNBA roster this season, we’ve taken it upon ourselves at BATB to find some worthy replacements for three of the competitors from last season. [...]

  • [...] With both Dwight Howard and Rudy Gay reluctant to participate in this year’s dunk contest, and Jamario Moon playing like the 12th man on a WNBA roster this season, we’ve taken it upon ourselves at BATB to find some worthy replacements for three of the competitors from last season. [...]

  • jai Posted: Dec.5 at 8:21 am
    cosign russ…not a dunk- dunk contest????????????

  • aria welly Posted: Jan.3 at 9:11 am
    waht is.. cosign russ?.. mr. dwight.. can i call you that, cause i’m just a boy.. haha.. do you know raz-q damopoli?.. that’s my friend..

  • shaq32 Posted: Jan.11 at 8:46 am
    superman dunk was nothing special?
    ok, then please name me some player, who could jump that far, catch the ball behind his head, do a tomahawk, and dunk.

  • [...] Superman May Skip Dunk Contest (Slam Online) [...]

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