The Slam Dunk Contest used to be arguably the biggest attraction of All-Star Weekend at one point, but that is no longer the case. The 2026 edition proved to be a total dud, and LeBron James has often been blamed for the contest’s downfall, as he has never participated.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith pointed the finger at James for the dunk contest’s demise, but Gilbert Arenas believes someone else is responsible for ruining it. Arenas blamed Michael Jordan, of all people, on The Gilbert Arenas Show.
“Listen, we do have a problem,” Arenas said. “Listen, I don’t want to say it’s Stephen A. Smith. I don’t want to say it’s my guy, but look, everything is not LeBron’s fault, okay? LeBron didn’t ruin the dunk contest 15 years ago. The dunk contest was ruined in 1988. 1988. His name was MJ, Your Highness, the God, the GOAT.
“Because when that type of greatness entered the dunk contest, it put the dunk contest standard at a all high level,” Arenas continued. “Because he was in Chicago and he was already a scoring champ, three-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA, runner-up to the MVP, end up winning the MVP that year. All-Star MVP that year, dunk champ. I think he entered the three-point contest that year.
“He did everything,” Arenas added. “… That was the year he swept. So, that was the type of guy who was in the dunk contest with Dominique Wilkins, and so. We haven’t had those people since.”
Arenas pointed out that when the likes of Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter entered the dunk contest, they hadn’t become the superstars that you think of them as today. They were just up-and-comers back then, and those were the kind of players who always entered the contest.
Arenas thinks blaming James for the lack of star power in the contest today is unfair. He believes Jordan has set the expectations far too high. He took part in 1985 as a rookie and then won in 1987 and 1988.
By the time 1988 had come around, Jordan had firmly established himself as one of the best players in the NBA. After winning that contest over Dominique Wilkins, he would go on to win MVP and DPOY that year.
Jordan’s victory over Wilkins proved to be a bit controversial, though. With Chicago hosting All-Star Weekend, there were allegations of “home cooking.” You can have a look yourself.
Arenas says these judges are another reason why players don’t really want to participate anymore.
“Outside of that, what really ruined the dunk contest is the voting on dunks, which happened in 1988 also,” Arenas stated. “Because the narrative back then was the MJ and Dominique, and MJ possibly winning in Chicago was the narrative. The voters just got it wrong.
“And I’m going to tell you from talking to people who dunked, who participated in these things, the one thing you don’t want to happen is you do a dunk, you get a number, and then someone does some weak a** dunk, and that number is higher than yours,” Arenas added. “Oh, when that happens, there’s an issue. Meaning, I don’t want to do this no more.”
Someone like Aaron Gordon certainly was upset after finishing runner-up twice in 2016 and 2020. Gordon felt he should have won on both occasions, as did much of the basketball world, but the judges disagreed. Some players might have been deterred from participating since then, due to the fear of getting Aaron Gordon’d.
This year’s competition had Keshad Johnson, Carter Bryant, Jaxson Hayes, and Jase Richardson. Johnson won, but you doubt anyone is going to remember this contest even five years down the road.
