The NBA Slam Dunk Contest is not exactly getting better as the years go on. Despite the efforts of some of their fellow players, superstars rarely ever feel inclined to participate in the event anymore. Since convincing high-profile players to partake clearly isn’t working, Mark Cuban has some other ideas.
“Star power helps,” Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. “But I think you can add some technology to it. You add a height meter, a distance meter, just simple things, where it makes it more entertaining on TV.
“Because the tech(nology) is there to measure it in real time. And then you include that in the score. So more guys are going to try to jump from the free-throw line. More guys are going to try to get up. That will add to the excitement. ‘Who can jump the highest? Who can jump the furthest?’ And it will all be there in real time, so you can’t back away from it.”
I like it. We wrote a few years back that it is crucial for more superstars to start competing in the Dunk Contest for it to be enjoyable but that clearly isn’t going to happen. There were a few exciting dunks over the weekend in Houston, but there were also too many misses that made the competition feel like it was dragging out. Measuring how high and far participants are jumping would certainly add a new element to the contest.
“Look, you’ve got to remember who’s there and who’s watching it,” Cuban continued. “Kids, kids, kids, kids. Not you guys (media). When you go to the All-Star game, it’s everybody taking their kids. When you go Saturday night, Friday night, it’s everybody taking their kids. They’re not nearly as critical when they go, ‘Ooh. Daddy, can we have some more popcorn? Aah. Can we get a T-shirt? That’s their level of criticism.”
Players seem to be running out of ideas and ways to be creative. Using technology like Cuban is talking about could only help.
Once again, the Cubes comes up with a good business idea.
