Best Dunks of the NBA Season...So Far

Here it is! My first vlog! I took my favorite dunks from the 2011-2012 season thus far and mixed it all together in to a video blog. Enjoy!

Sprite Slam Dunk Contest...But Without The Excitement

Chase Budinger

Leading up to All-Star Saturday night (on February 25), I am finding it pretty difficult to be excited. Throughout most of my life, I have always been so ecstatic about All-Star Weekend for months in advance at a time. Blame it on the condensed schedule, but this year I am really not all that exuberant. I typically plan my entire weekend around the Rookie Challenge on Friday night, All Star Saturday night, and then the All Star game on Sunday night. This year, I'm already beginning to make plans to go downtown with friends and not even think about the festivities. Sure, the All Star game will be exciting, but it's Saturday night that I'm usually so pumped about and it's the dunk contest that really attracts the viewers. This year, it seems that everyone is talking about who isn't in the dunk contest rather than who is. That's not usually a good sign. There's no Blake Griffin (the reigning champion). And as usual, there is no LeBron James, the player everyone wants to see in the contest.

Iman Shumpert

Instead, viewers are being given players Chase Budinger, Paul George, Iman Shumpert, and Derrick Williams. These guys can certainly thrown down some nasty dunks but what ever happened to the old days when star players actually wanted to be involved in the dunk contest? For example, the days when Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins went head to head were the best years of the contest. The Contest has only been around since 1984, but it has taken a significant dip in recent years. Maybe I am just being pessimistic and the whole weekend will be incredible. I'm certainly hesitant though....

Why Do Fans Get To Pick The NBA All-Star Starters?

The starters for the 2012 NBA All Star Game were announced tonight for both the East and West teams and I wasn't all that surprised by the results. Voted by fans across the world, the starting line ups typically consist of the "superstars" of the league that one generally thinks of when the NBA comes in to mind. For the West squad, PG Chris Paul, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Kevin Durant, PF Blake Griffin, and C Andrew Bynum will be one of the youngest starting lineups that I have have seen in an all star game. For the East squad, PG Derrick Rose, SG Dwyane Wade, SF Carmelo Anthony, PF LeBron James, and C Dwight Howard (the leading vote getting amongst all players) will use their athleticism and experience to give the West team a great challenge. In my opinion, the East is going to absolutely demolish the West. But this is besides the point.
My real concern is why fans even get to vote for the starters in the first place. Yes, I understand the All Star Game is supposed to be a relaxed, fun game that gives fans the opportunity to cheer for all of their favorite players and also a way for players to show their appreciation to players, but it really doesn't make sense to me for one main reason: The general managers of the league get to pick the reserve players, but have no say in the starters. In my opinion, it should be the other way around. Fans should get to pick the reserves and general managers should pick the starters. In too many cases, I have seen players get selected as all stars when they really do not deserve it. For example, washed up players like Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson started for their respective conferences based solely off of their reputations and not by their skill later in their careers. This year is no different to me.