Slam Dunk Contest
NBA basketball contest
The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend.
The contest was conceived of and started by the American Basketball Association (ABA) for its 1976 ABA All-Star Game in Denver. The winner was Julius Erving of the New York Nets. As a result of the ABA–NBA merger later that year, the contest moved to the NBA for the 1976–77 season.
There was not another slam dunk contest at the professional level until 1984. The contest has adopted several formats over the years, including, until 2014, the use of fan voting, via text-messaging, to determine the winner of the final round. The current champion of the Slam Dunk Contest is Keshad Johnson (2026).
History
1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest
The first-ever Slam Dunk Contest was held on January 27, 1976, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver during halftime of the 1976 ABA All-Star Game, the league's final All-Star game before the completion of the ABA–NBA merger. In financial trouble and fighting with the NBA for viewers, the ABA started the slam dunk contest as a gimmick to attract viewers nationwide. In Remember the ABA, Jim Bukata recalled, "We were sitting around the office one day, discussing things that would draw more people, and it just came to us…It was Julius [Erving] really giving us the idea that we're the league of the dunkers.
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