FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The dunk has ruined the game of basketball as well, it has become a blight on the game itself. In the NBA as well as in  leagues around the country and the world, players used to be assessed on their overall skill at things like passing, shooting, dribbling, play under pressure as well as in transition and the half-court offense. In the 70's there became a new type of star player headed by guys like Dr. J. and others who used their athleticism to take the ball to the hole and dunk the ball.  Seldom did the crowd offer more than clapping or a few cheers at this shot which is at best, a high percentage shot. In the 80's, the game was dominated by talent like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas and a host of players who had total games and seldom used the dunk as a show piece of their game. The speed of the game increased as did the transition game find a home with teams like the Lakers and the Nuggets. The Celtics of the 80's were tough with an attitude like the Pistons and the Bad Boys lead by Isaiah who would just as soon take you out and beat you then smile and say sorry. The game was played at a very high skill level as players had to have all-around games to get there and work hard to stay there. There were very few one-dimensional players even at the Center position as teams had to develop overall skill to succeed. The end of the 80's brought us the Slam Dunk competition at the all-star break, which at the time, was a vehicle for guys like Dominique Wilkins and Dave "SkyWalker" Thompson to showcase their athleticism and their ability to dunk the ball as it was not a shot that was common to the game at that point, but was used by a few guys as it was just not an integral part of the game at the time. The 3 point line had just been introduced and the players were working hard to take advantage of the new found scoring range and since the dunk was still 2 points, it was not much more than a sideshow at the all-star game.

Michael Jordan changed all that with his dunks in the competition that rocked the basketball world. Soon, every kid wanted to be like Mike, not a solid all-around player who won defensive awards and player of the year honors, but the Mike who could dunk. I am 5' 10" on a good day and I still remember the game I was able to dunk on this guy. It was fun, but the thing I remember the most is the 6 3 pointers I drained to win the league championship the next game. We were up by 25 in the game I dunked so if I missed it was not a problem, had it been close, I would have been benched! Spud Webb at about 5' 6" was able to win a dunk fest. As I read in an article in 2000:

"Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the dunk has ruined basketball-at least for him.
"Because I can't see what great skill it takes for a large athletic person to stand under a basket, leap and slam the ball through the rim. It drives me nuts when people applaud dunks. They are not worthy of a golf clap.
"Are you thrilled when Tiger [Woods] makes a two-inch putt? Nothing pleases me more when some big lummox misses a dunk and the ball caroms off to half-court. Now that's entertainment.""

Team's these days fork out millions for their franchise player and in some sense, they do spoil these players in hopes that one day they will evolved in team players and help bring a championship home to their respective franchise. However, not always is this the case. Steve Francis never wanted to defer to Yao Ming for the sake of improving the Rockets. Kobe Bryant is too busy chasing MJ's 10 scoring titles to give up the ball so his teammates can contribute. That is also why they lost out on the All-Star potentials of a Caron Butler and traded away their franchise center in Shaquille O'Neal. Toronto paid Vince Carter all that money only to have him pout about irrelevant things, lose interest in producing, and force his way out by causing problems for the Raptors and returned to full productivity with the Nets who let him do what he wants on the floor. Loyalty to a franchise in the NBA these days is measured in millions more often than team's success. Many franchise dish out so much money for an individual player (Kevin Garnett , Kobe, Shaq) that they don't have enough in the bank to add more talent to the team. During the 1980's - 1990's, you would see at least 3 superstars (sometimes more) on one team but nowadays that is rare (only Boston has that luxury) and a team would be very lucky if they had 2 superstars on the same roster.

Capitalism has taken over the NBA and a smart player these days will try to maximize their earnings in order to get the most money they can, whenever they can, wherever they can. The NBA's next crop of superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony illustrated my point when they decided to resign with their teams for a 3 year period (when players used to resigned for double that amount of time period) just so they can double up again down the road. The concept of team success has been replaced by how much earnings a player could make in the shortest period possible. Latrell Sprewell was offered a 5 - 7 million dollar contract per season and he turned it down claiming that "It is not enough to feed my family". Does he have like a whole country to feed or something? That is the sad state of where the NBA is headed these days and it is also the reasons why many European players who come over here and play, are more often disgusted than intrigued by our "money is larger than life" culture.

I was so upset when TSN awarded the "Play of the Year" to a LeBron James dunk from the wing. The Cavaliers have put all their marbles in one player and now have a team that can offer him support. Is he a talented player? Absolutely, but the fans only jump out of their seats when he throws the ball down in transition, not so much when he drives and kicks it to Wally Szczerbiak for a 3. Marketing has taken the key elements of the game and dumbed them down to the point where the Spurs who keep winning with half-court offense and team defense with Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and guys who can just play the game are seldom recognized for their skill the way Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler and David West are who are more flashy, but have yet to win a title. The Suns for years have had Steve Nash and the run and gun fliers but traded away Shawn Marion for Shaq to shore up the defense as that is what will win the game in June, not a dunk. After all is said and done, the dunk is only 2 points and if you think it is anything more than that to the guys you see on the tube, just watch as the Suns get dunked on and see Nash take the ball to the rack the other way as if nothing happened. The public has come to accept that the dunk is some huge momentum changing event and the guys make their stupid faces after they make a dunk. Hopefully more taunting technical fouls will clean that up so we don't become the NFL with their stupid touchdown dances.