While the NBA Slam Dunk Contest was a hit with the ratings, the black cloud lingering over the event were the number of dunks involving props.
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan is fed up with the props and says he’s done with the dunk contest unless the NBA addressees the situation.
“I’m a dunker. Dunk contests, you go out there and dunk. I’m not into all the props and everything,” DeRozan said on Tuesday. “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.”
I hate to break it to you DeMar, but as long as advertisers are involved with the dunk contest, the props are here to stay.
If it makes you feel better, you aren’t the only one who feels this way.
“I don’t really like the props but I think since it’s such a heavily sponsored event that [sponsors] have made suggestions that have been taken into consideration and sometimes applied,” Julius Erving said Friday night. “So that’s changed the nature of it.”
For better or for worse, props are here to stay.