It is NBA All-Star Weekend and, even though it does not hold the same luster it did 20 years ago, it is still one of the best exhibitions in all of professional sports. I have been watching All-Star Weekend ever since it began back in 1984. That is when the Slam Dunk Contest began; then they added the 3 point Shootout in 1986 and began broadcasting the live event starting in 1987. Some of the festivities begin tonight, but most are held tomorrow (Saturday) night and it is all televised on TNT. I encourage you to at least set your DVR or Tivo to record the contest because you never know what amazing feat you may witness. I know I will be watching.

The 3 point Shootout is a fantastic display of the best pure shooters the game has known. Past winners include Larry Bird, Craig Hodges, Dale Ellis, Mark Price, Glen Rice, Ray Allen and Peja Stojakovic. I always have enjoyed seeing this competition, but it is the Slam Dunk Contest that everybody really comes to see. There was nothing better than the Slam Dunk Contest back in the late 80's when you had superstars like Michael Jordan facing off against Dominique Wilkins, but then it definitely dropped off in the mid to late 90's. Luckily, Vince Carter helped resurrect the contest in 2000 and it has been pretty decent again ever since. It is truly amazing what athletic ability and innovation these players bring nowadays. The NBA added a rule for the Slam Dunk contest only allowing first, second or third year players to participate. It really showcases some of the young talent in the league, but you will never see the superstars like we once did. Here is a link to a great video that highlights some of the best dunks over the 23 year history of the Dunk Contest and even features some Dr. J footage from the 1976 ABA Dunk Contest. It is about 9 minutes long, but really shows some phenomenally creative gravity-defying slam dunks. If you watch it now, please be sure to come back and finish reading here because I am going to give you a Top 10 list of the best Slam Dunk Contest Winning Dunkers of all time. So here are OLD SCHOOL'S TOP 10 SLAM DUNK CONTEST WINNERS:
Honorable Mention. Julius Erving - Dr. J was the first to really make dunking into an art form. Though he never won the modern day Slam Dunk Contest (finished 2nd in 1984 to Larry Nance), he did win the 1976 ABA Dunk Contest by performing the famous free throw line slam which was extremely rare and especially amazing for that time. He definitely deserves an honorable mention here.
10. Gerald Green (2007) - He won last year's contest with some pretty incredible dunks. This spot could have gone to several other guys like Kobe Bryant (1997) or Dee Brown (1991) or Nate Robinson (2006), but Green seemed special. He will be competing again this year and if he can win back to back titles, then I would consider moving him up the list for sure.
9. Spud Webb (1986) - At just 5 feet 7 inches tall, he is the shortest player ever to win the Slam Dunk Contest. Nate Robinson won in 2006, but he is 2 inches taller than Spud. Webb showed tremendous innovation despite not even being able to palm the basketball. I still feel that Wilkins was the better dunker that year, but you have to give credit to the underdog little man.
8. Harold Miner (1993, 1995) - His nickname was "Baby Jordan" from college and though he never came close to Jordan's level in the NBA, he did excel in the Dunk Contest winning it twice. Winning two contests put him on my list ahead of the one time winners.
7. Isaiah Rider (1994) - He won it in 1994 and then made it to the finals again in 1995. He had one incredible slam that was nicknamed the "East Bay Funk Dunk" which was amazing at the time. Looking back, players today seem to be able to do that sort of move with ease.
6. Josh Smith (2005) - Though he only won it one year, he showed some incredible flair for the dramatic. For one of his dunks, he put on a Dominique Wilkins jersey to honor him. This kid has tremendous athleticism and is a budding star in the league today.
5. Desmond Mason (2001) - He won it in 2001 and then made it to the finals in 2003. Known as "The Cowboy" because he played college ball at Oklahoma State, he looks more like a bird the way he can fly through and hang up in the air. He punishes the rim when he slams it through.
4. Jason Richardson (2002, 2003) - This two time winner also went to the finals in 2004. He is a dynamic dunker who performed some moves that had never been seen before. He had a dunk where he threw the ball off the backboard, caught it and put it between his legs before slamming it home. He had another where he did a between the legs reverse dunk arching his back seemingly too far from the rim to put it down. Incredibly dynamic.
3. Dominique Wilkins (1985, 1990) - It was hard for me to rank ‘Nique this low because he was one of my favorite players growing up. "The Human Highlight Film" as he was called not only won 2 titles, but was in the finals in both 1986 and 1988 and realistically could have been named the winner of both of those, too. His 1988 Dunk Contest finals face off against Michael Jordan is legendary. Here is a link to a quick recap of that particular match-up. Wilkins was one of the few dunkers who jumped off of both feet and his signature dunk was the "windmill." I loved watching Dominique play.
2. Vince Carter (2000) - As I mentioned earlier, Carter burst on to the scene and really resurrected this contest. They decided to not have the contest in 1998 and the NBA strike cancelled the All-Star game in 1999, but in 2000 Vince Carter showed why he was nicknamed "Half Man Half Amazing." Here is a link to a quick video that shows some of the incredible dunks that he displayed that year with several replays from different angles. The NBA owes Carter a debt of gratitude for saving this contest and breathing life back into All-Star Weekend when they needed it most.
1. Michael Jordan (1987, 1988) - What can you say? Jordan took the torch from Dr. J and not only ran with it, but flew to a new planet with it. Though I was a bigger fan of Dominique at the time, you can't deny the greatness of Michael Jordan. He always added a little extra flair to every dunk whether it was an extra pump or a leg kick. Jordan revolutionized not only the Dunk Contest, but the game of basketball itself.

There is my Top 10 and you saw all of them if you watched the video I linked to earlier. Over the last two years, I felt the best dunks performed were not done by the eventual winners. Two years ago, the tiny Nate Robinson won despite missing his final dunk 14 times before getting it down. He defeated Andre Iguodola who had one of my favorite dunks of all time which I have a link to right here. Then last year, Dwight Howard had an incredible display of leaping ability when he slapped a sticker high on the backboard before he dunked. I have a link to this unbelievable performance right here. Howard is participating tomorrow night and I can't wait to see what he does this year.  My list above only includes dunkers who actually won the contest. There have been some amazing dunks along the way by those who did not end up winning and many of those were included in that long video I recommended at the start. If you go out and stand in front of a regulation basketball hoop that is 10 feet high and then imagine millions of people watching you, I think you begin to appreciate how special these athletes are and what an art form the slam dunk can actually become. I am still in awe when I watch those dunks from the 80's and these young kids today never fail to impress. Like I said, I am eager to see what they come up with next. I will be watching tomorrow night and I hope to see another dunk that makes me jump out of my seat.

If interested, here are a couple more links to some NBA.com highlights from past dunk contests:
Year by Year Recap of the Best Contest Dunks
Best Contest Dunks By Category
Both are very cool, so go check them out if you enjoy slam dunks.

That will do it for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for stopping by and please help spread the word. I appreciate any links back to my blog that you put in your blog or on your website. Notice that I finally figured out how to put live links into my blog rather than listing all that code (thanks skumora!)  I hope you all enjoy your weekend. Peace and much love.

Check this out: Here are some interesting bits of trivia. I have not re-verified all of this, but they sound reasonable to me...
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Butterflies taste with their feet.
Cats have over 100 vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "MT."
If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life."
The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."
The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable."
The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.
The words "race car" and "kayak" and "level" are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.
There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks;
otherwise it will digest itself.

Quote of the day: "By going that one more round when you think you can't, that's what makes all the difference in your life." -Rocky talking to his son in the movie Rocky IV

Download this: "Forever Young" (acoustic version) by Rod Stewart - I like the original version of this song, but he did a slower acoustic version featured on the album If We Fall in Love Tonight that is just fantastic. I highly recommend this particular version.