NBA's Amateur Dunk Contest Will Likely Overshadow the Real Thing

The organizers of the 2010 Sprite Showdown Dunk Contest know what they're doing. The contest is set up for Friday night at the NBA Jam Session at the Dallas Convention Center. It will be broadcast live on the web before the rookie-sophomore game, but won't be on T.V. until Saturday -- and even then, it's on NBA TV. Yet it's almost guaranteed to get more buzz than the real shebang on Saturday night.

For one, LeBron James -- the mythical creature everyone wishes would have agreed to enter the dunk contest -- will judge the amateurs. Where LeBron goes, attention follows. (Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins and Drake are the other two judges.) The broadcast circumstances, in which not many folks will watch live, but a few clips will make their way around the web, building excitement for Saturday's cable broadcast, is also a boon to the buzz factor. (I can already see myself hunting for Twitvids of the action late Friday night.)

But the biggest reason is that, really, the dunks are probably going to be better. No offense to Gerald Wallace, or even Eric Gordon, Shannon Brown or DeMar DeRozan. (I mean plenty of offense to you, Nate Robinson.) But look at this stuff! One of the amateur contestants, Taurian "Air Up There" Fontenette, is referred to as "Mr. 720," likely because he can do a 720 dunk.

The other contestants are Haneef "Young Hollywood" Munir, Willie "Flyte" Barnes and Carlos "Los" Smothers, who won entry by submitting his best work online. (The others all qualified through regional tournaments.) Here's a taste of each from Sprite's promo vid.