Vince Carter Reveals He Almost Joined 2 Lakers Legends In Dunk Contest
The NBA Slam Dunk Contest used to be one of the most anticipated events of All-Star weekend. Players would jump at the opportunity to participate and represent their teams in it, no matter good they were. Names such as Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins once headlined the historic event and put on a show for fans.
Fast forward to 2023 and it feels as though the Dunk Contest, once the highlight of All-Star Saturday nights, is losing interest from the basketball world every year that it continues. All-Stars and fan selections rarely participate and many have called for a one-on-one tournament to replace the competition as a whole.
One of the most memorable dunk contests in recent history is, without a doubt, Vince Carter's 2000 showcase. The high-flyer gave us some jams that have yet to be recreated on the same level today, some top-tier reactions from the judges, and set the expectations for the event at an all-time high.
Amidst all of the chatter that the Dunk Contest was falling off, Carter on his podcast "The VC Show With Vince Carter" and revealed that the NBA attempted to stack the lineup with stars one year by bringing in Lakers champions Kobe Bryant and LeBron James along with Carter himself.
"I know for a fact, some years back, the NBA tried this tactic as far as upping the ante a little bit, a million dollars," said Carter. "They threw around some names, I remember it was LeBron, Kobe, T-Mac—my name was thrown in there of course, and it was a few other people for $1 million. But you obviously couldn't get the commitment of everyone to do it."
Carter didn't specify exactly when the league attempted to put this together, but it was likely soon after Carter won the 2000 contest and around the time James got drafted in 2003. This means all of the players were young and in their athletic primes which would've set up for a great show. This would've been huge for the sport and goes to show the players cannot be convinced by just money.
All-Star starter Ja Morant has established himself as a top dunker in the league these past seasons and everybody has been begging for him to save the contest, even fellow NBA players themselves.
Morant has hinted in the past that he would need $1 million in the league to go through with it but has also been very critical of how the judges score the contest as a whole. He also believes dunks are not as appreciated due to social media.
This year's AT&T Slam Dunk contest takes place tonight at 7 p.m. PT and will feature the likes of Mac McClung, Kenyon Martin Jr., Jericho Sims, and Trey Murphy III.
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