The 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest wasn’t as entertaining as people hoped. Former player DeMarcus Cousins is one of the many who have come out to criticize the underwhelming event. Many believe that one of the biggest reasons why it flopped was that no star wanted to join the competition.
On Monday’s episode of FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back,” Cousins discussed with his fellow hosts how to fix it. Aside from the former Sacramento Kings star, former players Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams were left dissatisfied with how things went on All-Star Saturday Night.
Cousins claims that after witnessing nearly every dunk imaginable, individuals suggested doing away with the dunk competition going forward.
“At this point in the dunk contest, there’s nothing more that you can create or come up with that the human body can actually do. I think we’ve seen it all,” Cousins said. “I think we’ve seen the best.
DeMarcus Cousins also pointed out the lack of star power in the event.
“At the end of the day, I just don’t think the dunk contest hits the way it used to back in the day. It was a star-driven event. We don’t have stars in the event anymore.”
The four-time All-Star presented a fresh event that might rekindle fan interest.
DeMarcus Cousins believes a 1-on-1 tournament would benefit the All-Star Weekend
Scraping the dunk contest will leave a big hole in the All-Star Weekend. But DeMarcus Cousins sees an easy fix with a potential 1-on-1 tournament, citing Unrivaled as the inspiration.
“Go look at Unrivaled,” he added. “The way they play this 1-on-1 tournament, the way they bring the best out of each other. I think we should cancel the dunk contest and bring in the one-on-one tournament.”
According to Grant Afseth of BallIsLife.com, many NBA stars are open to the idea of having a 1-on-1 tournament. Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown is interested in naming which players he’d want to go up against.
Rachel Nichols also brought up the idea to stars Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, Anthony Edwards, James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo last year. All were open to the idea.
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