Slam Dunk Contest not what it used to be

So Nate Robinson is the first three-time winner of the Slam Dunk Contest. Seeing as he's listed at 5'9", it's not only amazing that he can leap so high, but that he can perform some of the dunks he does. Nate can't palm the ball.

As I watched last night, I caught myself flashing back to the days of Dominique and Air Jordan when they battled one another for the title. I wondered if this exhibition could ever return to those days. Simply, no. But the reasons are not as simple.

Even with Robinson's historic feat (and I'm not downplaying his accomplishment), the Slam Dunk contest isn't close to what it used to be. I'm not saying that because there's no LeBron and no Kobe. I'm saying that because of a few factors.

I'm saying that because the "wow" factor isn't there anymore. One of reasons to watch it was to see if anything innovative was being done with the dunks. You really can only go so far with dunking a basketball, right? But these boundries are being pushed all the time.

I'll trace back a bit about the "names" not being there. That used to be a draw. Those "names" no longer perform at the contest and the NBA and its fans are at a loss because of it. Who would you rather see in a Slam Dunk final: Nate Robinson v. DeMar DeRozan or LeBron v. Kobe? Silly question, I know.

The rules are different, too. Remember when players performed a dunk, got their score and watched the others to see if they advanced to the next round? There were no time limits involved or multiple attempts. Take one shot and see how you do.

And when it got to the final two, the scores determined the winner not voting done online or via text messaging? Me, too. It's almost evolved into a popularity contest. I'm guessing since the fans vote on who should play in the game, the NBA figures the fans should determine the winner.

There were multiple rounds. If you had 8 competitors, they cut down to 4, then 2. You would see if a player was really mentally ready for this. Not now. Two rounds. That's not so bad. The players don't get as tired that way and that's almost (I said, almost) a plus.

The Slam Dunk Contest can never be what it once was, the jewel of All-Star weekend.

Vince Carter, where have you gone?