This year the dunk contest was a s**** show to say the least. But honestly—it’s been a while since we’ve seen a good show put on by the stars of the NBA. It’s hard to come up with new ideas to dunk a basketball, but here’s some suggestions to make it better. 

Have actual all-stars compete 

Before this weekend I had no understanding on who Juan Toscano-Anderson was, respectfully. And now that the competition is over, I probably will never hear of him again. But all that proves is that we need to see the stars in the competition. LeBron James never participated in the competition and that’s just a shame. Not saying we need to see Zach LaVine again or DeMar DeRozan. But why not get LaMelo Ball Or Ja Morant? At this point, it’s not about the athleticism but the star power. 

Let the fans decide

Everything from judging the scores to choosing participants, the fans should vote. They’re the ones who log on YouTube to watch posterizing highlights of their favorite players. The fans are the ones taking over social media with jokes and memes. The NBA fans control what goes on and they deserve more say.

Limit attempts 

Remember the battle between Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine? Aaron Gordon did an amazing dunk but he missed on his first attempt and Shaq gave him a 9 for missing the first attempt. Missing dunks sucks the fun out the air. And after this weekend—people don’t want to see people try the same dunk over and over. There should be at least two tries and after that, pick another dunk to try. 

Bring some non NBA people as contestants

What if we got some retired players to participate in some way? Like a T-Mac or Vince Carter coming back to rewind the clock. Or perhaps bringing some guys who garner millions of views online for completing insane dunks. The whole idea is to put on a show and make it entertaining. There’s guys out in this world that literally train for this specific competition. 

Inside the NBA announcers

This may not directly be connected to the actual event but this heavily impacts the viewers experience. What’s a dunk contest without Kenny Smith screaming ‘it’s over!’ but then again—we need actual good dunks first. Nonetheless, the guys on TNT hype every dunk up and make jokes on celebrities fits. Chuck is hilarious, Shaq is honest, Ernie keeps things together and Reggie Miller is a nice addition.