A genuinely serious proposal for the people in charge of the Olympics—because a lot of Olympic events are actually a lot like the dunk contest! (Except for the Kia product placement.)
While we're here, I'd like to advocate for the Olympic Basketball (individual) competition, i.e. 1-on-1. Seems like Unrivaled opened the door for that this weekend (and it was the best event too).
How could Giannis, Luka, LeBron, etc resist that? We could even have height classes if we felt so inclined but the height discrepancies also make for entertainment.
This is the best idea ever posted on Substack. Would love a follow-up about the steps it would take to actually make it happen (because also it'd just be interesting to know how things become an Olympic sport).
so I did a 15-minute podcast episode about that as part of my 2021 Tokyo podcast where the president of the international ultimate frisbee association talked me through the process, sadly they didn't get the call
it would be a lot easier, however, for a federation whose sport is already in the olympics to get an additional medal event than it is for a sport like frisbee to fight their way in. especially for fiba, which is one of the more powerful federations out there since basketball is such a big ticket event for the olympics.
I vaguely remember reading this actually! Will give it another look. I played competitive ultimate in college, so I know it has sport-specific officiating issues that have made it an uphill battle. I guess the big hurdle here would be making people take Dunking seriously as a sport, but it makes at least as much sense as 3x3 or Breaking.
I loved this article and agree with everything, except to say that Mac McClung, though he is the best dunker able to come close to deserving an NBA roster spot, would probably not make the Olympics if there could only be like, two American dunkers. Jordan Southerland, Donovan Hawkins, Isaiah Rivera (unless he dunked for Puerto Rico)…the actual professional dunkers are just better than he is, because he’s actually trying to make the NBA (and is good enough to have the hope of doing so, as the article says he’s a star in the G league)
Yeah obviously the people who have the most to gain from it are…. The people already doing pro dunking who most basketball fans haven’t heard of! They deserve the shine!
It must be so weird to be a top tier professional dunker and watch the NBA dunk contest - in what other context can you watch people who are much more famous than you are perform an activity that you are better at than they are and watch them get acclaimed as the best in the world? It would be as if there were like 15 tennis players who are better than Carlos Alcaraz and just don’t play in majors.
I’m trying to think of any other competition where “the signature famous event does not include the actual best practitioners due to a qualification limitation” and having a hard time coming up with one. Trivia with Jeopardy and Learned League actually is an example - Ken Jennings is excellent at trivia, don’t get me wrong, but I can name 5-10 people who are definitely better…they just weren’t jeopardy legends.
While we're here, I'd like to advocate for the Olympic Basketball (individual) competition, i.e. 1-on-1. Seems like Unrivaled opened the door for that this weekend (and it was the best event too).
How could Giannis, Luka, LeBron, etc resist that? We could even have height classes if we felt so inclined but the height discrepancies also make for entertainment.
The Dunk Contest was included in the Youth Olympics in 2014 and 2018
Won by FRA Karim Mouliom in 2014 (it looks like he played College BB in the United States at one point- https://www.sbubearcats.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/karim-mouliom/4832
Won by ARG Fausto Ruesga in 2018 (he looks to be playing overseas in Spain now
https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Fausto-Ruesga/Summary/133185)
The 2022 Youth Olympics were cancelled, but it does seem like the dunk contest may be on the program for Dakar 2026.
me realizing that I overlooked a relevant piece of obscure Olympic related info: 😫
me having Bob in the comments to bail me out: 🙂
That’s so interesting to have an event at one and not the adult
Let Mac BALL we demand it!!
This is the best idea ever posted on Substack. Would love a follow-up about the steps it would take to actually make it happen (because also it'd just be interesting to know how things become an Olympic sport).
so I did a 15-minute podcast episode about that as part of my 2021 Tokyo podcast where the president of the international ultimate frisbee association talked me through the process, sadly they didn't get the call
https://www.theringer.com/podcasts/the-ringer-guide-to-the-summer-games/2021/07/21/how-ultimate-frisbee-could-become-an-olympic-sport
it would be a lot easier, however, for a federation whose sport is already in the olympics to get an additional medal event than it is for a sport like frisbee to fight their way in. especially for fiba, which is one of the more powerful federations out there since basketball is such a big ticket event for the olympics.
I vaguely remember reading this actually! Will give it another look. I played competitive ultimate in college, so I know it has sport-specific officiating issues that have made it an uphill battle. I guess the big hurdle here would be making people take Dunking seriously as a sport, but it makes at least as much sense as 3x3 or Breaking.
How about commonwealth games for some down under domination?
Unfortunately, for a big proportion of sports fans, Die Hard is from antiquity.
I won't defend that viewpoint, but I do think Die Hard is better written than most of the blogs posted by Tacitus or Plutarch or whatever.
I loved this article and agree with everything, except to say that Mac McClung, though he is the best dunker able to come close to deserving an NBA roster spot, would probably not make the Olympics if there could only be like, two American dunkers. Jordan Southerland, Donovan Hawkins, Isaiah Rivera (unless he dunked for Puerto Rico)…the actual professional dunkers are just better than he is, because he’s actually trying to make the NBA (and is good enough to have the hope of doing so, as the article says he’s a star in the G league)
Yeah obviously the people who have the most to gain from it are…. The people already doing pro dunking who most basketball fans haven’t heard of! They deserve the shine!
It must be so weird to be a top tier professional dunker and watch the NBA dunk contest - in what other context can you watch people who are much more famous than you are perform an activity that you are better at than they are and watch them get acclaimed as the best in the world? It would be as if there were like 15 tennis players who are better than Carlos Alcaraz and just don’t play in majors.
I’m trying to think of any other competition where “the signature famous event does not include the actual best practitioners due to a qualification limitation” and having a hard time coming up with one. Trivia with Jeopardy and Learned League actually is an example - Ken Jennings is excellent at trivia, don’t get me wrong, but I can name 5-10 people who are definitely better…they just weren’t jeopardy legends.
Well really any Olympic team sport where only "amateurs" were allowed to compete and the USSR would crush them (eg hockey)
On the other hand, they would absolutely rig the team to have him on it for the name recognition.