Disappointing is the word to use when describing the 2013 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Every year, the competition seems to get worse and worse. Maybe it’s because dunks seem to resemble each other every year, maybe it’s the players who are performing poorly, or maybe it’s just because there are such high expectations to see such great dunks that it ends up a huge disappointment in the end.

The dunks performed this year did not excite me in any way. I feel as if the same thing is being done year after year except with minor alterations to them. It’s like watching the same thing over and over again just with different players. Not to mention, the players this year were not the best contenders. In all honesty, I had not even heard of some of the contestants this year. When I watch such a big event, I expect to see players who are well known, not players who are new to the scene.

Looking back on the previous dunk contests, I only enjoyed three of them; the competition in 2000 with Vince Carter, the one in 2008 with Dwight Howard, and a more recent one in 2011 with Blake Griffin. What makes these years stand out is the fact that these players are actually famous and their reputation precedes them. Not only that, but I found their dunks to be somewhat fascinating.

This year, not only did the dunks seem unoriginal, but also the scores awarded by the judges seemed to be a little too high for the performance. Due to fact that the players missed dunks numerous times and then still received a score near perfect gets me wondering why this is. Maybe they actually thought the dunks were good in some way or maybe they just wanted to show their respect, but either way, I did not take a shine to the 2013 contest. Hopefully the contests will start to pick up in excitement as the years progress.