DeMar DeRozan came out and really rocked it last weekend. Not like Lenny Kravitz, we mean in a good way.
He came out for the dunk contest Saturday and threw it down old school. Forget the cars and the second backboard and stuffed animals hanging from the rim. He came out and just dunked.
He lost. For the second year in a row. And he’s done with it, he told the Associated Press (via Slam).“I’m a dunker. Dunk contests, you go out there and dunk. I’m not into all the props and everything,” DeRozan said at shootaround before Tuesday’s game against Charlotte. “I try to come out with a creative dunk and do it and go from there. My fans liked it and you can see the reaction from a lot of people afterward.
“If there’s a dunk contest next year I’ll do it. But not no prop dunk contest.”
DeRozan speaks for a lot of people, ones who think the dunk contest is more spectacle than show of athletic skills. People who think the props cheapen the event.
The people are losing the war, however. NBA Saturday is not about skills (well, technically the Skills Challenge is, we guess), it’s about show. The NBA is embracing the spectacle, and the fans are tuning in. The old-school dunk contest now is in the wing of the museum with the T-Rex bones.
That said, DeRozan did get jobbed on this one. He was good. Very good.
