The NBA Slam Dunk Contest has arguably lost a lot of its allure in recent years.
Mac McClung, the three-time defending Slam Dunk champion who’s spent most of his pro career in the G League, will not be competing to defend his title this year.
You know the competition is in a rough state when the defending three-time champ who isn’t even a big factor on an NBA roster is no longer interested in competing.
Instead, we’ll get a youthful field of rookie University of Arizona product Carter Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers big man Jaxson Hayes, Keshad Johnson of the Miami Heat and Jase Richardson of the Orlando Magic.
Gone are the days when the league’s biggest stars like Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan would compete for Slam Dunk supremacy. And while it’s too early to judge what the aforementioned youngsters have up their sleeve, the Slam Dunk Contest this year suffers on the condition of name recognition.
So, instead of focusing on those guys, we wanted to take a look back at all-time Suns players to determine what the best dunk competition would look like in The Valley.
Two Suns players have won the Slam Dunk Contest
In the history of the contest that dates back to 1984, two Suns players have established dunking supremacy. Larry Nance won the inaugural competition in 1984, and Cedric Ceballos with his famed blindfold dunk followed that up by winning it in 1992.
Since then, though, no Suns player has won the Slam Dunk competition. Amar’e Stoudemire competed during 2005 All-Star Weekend, wherein the Suns nearly swept the competition.
Quentin Richardson won the 3-point contest, Steve Nash won the Skills Challenge and the trio of “Thunder Dan” Majerle, Shawn Marion and Diana Taurasi won the Shooting Stars competition before STAT was bested in the dunk contest despite some top notch originality from him and the MVP Nash.
Nance, Ceballos and Stoudemire should all be grandfathered in among the best Slam Dunk Contest competitors the Suns have to offer for their past contributions to the competition, but who else should make the cut?
Gerald Green, who spent two seasons in Phoenix and expressed appreciation for his years with the Suns, is a no-brainer addition who competed in three dunk contests, winning in 2007.
Green's rubberband-like athleticism wowed fans throughout his career, including during past Slam Dunk competitions. That leaves us with a quartet of Nance, Ceballos, Stoudemire and Green. A sterling lineup of dunkers, to be sure, but should anyone else be in the mix?
Jason Richardson, a back-to-back Slam Dunk champion in 2002 and 2003 also stands out. Of course, he didn't make it to Phoenix until his age 28 season, well after he won the dunk contest twice for the Golden State Warriors. Still, his athleticism in his prime can compete with anyone in the history of the NBA.
Former Suns All-Star and current Suns TV analyst Tom Chambers should be another who makes the cut. A brilliant in-game dunker who'd effortlessly glide to the rim, TC's famed poster dunk on former NBA guard Mark Jackson stands out. We'll let Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond explain:
It's one of the more impressive in-game dunks in league history. Chambers also competed in the dunk contest once upon a time, but the legendary MJ took home the trophy in a 1987 dunk field that included a stunning eight competitors.
It remains to be seen if we'll ever see a field that large in a Slam Dunk Contest moving forward, but a Suns-only lineup of Nance, Ceballos, Stoudemire, Green, J-Rich and Chambers is quite the formidable group of high-flyers.