[2][5] 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.

[7] The other two in the room were the league's finance director Jim Keeler and Carl Scheer, general manager of the Denver Nuggets who were hosting the All-Star game.

[9][8] At the contest, it was announced that the competitors were judged on artistic ability, body flow, fan response, and imagination, earning up to ten points in each category.

[8] There were five competitors: Artis "A-Train" Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels went first followed by George "Iceman" Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs, Larry "Special K" Kenon of the San Antonio Spurs, David "Skywalker" Thompson of the Denver Nuggets, and finally Julius "Dr. J" Erving of New York Nets.

"[2] In 1976, Arthur Erhat filed a patent for "a rim that had give but immediately returned to its original position," making dunking safe for the first time by significantly reducing the shattering of backboards.

[12] There were 22 competitors at multiple venues throughout the event—one for each team at the league—including future Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alex English, Julius Erving, George Gervin, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, and David Thompson.

[4] Former ABA player Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman was named the winner that season, beating out the Golden State Warriors' Larry McNeill in the championship round on June 5, 1977, in Portland during the halftime of the final playoff game.

[4][13] The NBA reintroduced the Slam Dunk Contest on a permanent basis as a free-standing event during All-Star Weekend in 1984 at its birthplace in Denver.

However, the announcers did note that Wilkins was given abnormally low score for his breathtaking third dunk, a 45, allowing Jordan to win it by 2 with his perfect 50.

To this day, the allegations of "home cooking" still float around surrounding the event (it was held on Jordan's home court; one of the judges was former Chicago Bears star Gale Sayers; and another judge, former NBA star Tom Hawkins, is a Chicago native) and until the competition in 2020, was considered arguably the most controversial of the slam dunk competitions.

The following year in Houston would have been the first time where all the previous dunk champs would've faced off against each other; but Jordan, Wilkins, and Nance, who were going to play in the All-Star Game that Sunday, decided to skip the contest due to minor injuries.

[14] In 1990, Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks edged out Kenny Smith of the Sacramento Kings to win his second Slam Dunk Contest.

Harold Miner was a standout in 1993, winning the contest with a reverse power dunk, reaching between his legs and down to his feet in mid-air before sending the ball down.

The 2000 contest was widely acclaimed, featuring a showdown between eventual winner Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors, his cousin and then-teammate Tracy McGrady, and the Houston Rockets' Steve Francis.

Again in 2006, the Dunk Contest in Houston revitalized the interests of audiences as 5'9" Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks took the title with a great dunk-off.

Judges for the event were all past winners: Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, Julius Erving, and Vince Carter.

Judges for the event included Darryl Dawkins, Dominique Wilkins, Karl Malone, Julius Erving, and Magic Johnson.

[18] With teammate Jameer Nelson's assistance he would make a leaping dunk from just in front of the free-throw line after a running start, throwing the ball through the rim from a few feet away.

[11] Robinson took on Shannon Brown of the Los Angeles Lakers, Gerald Wallace of the Charlotte Bobcats, and DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors.

DeRozan earned his spot in the competition by defeating Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon in the inaugural Sprite Slam Dunk-In held the night before the actual dunk contest.

JaVale McGee of the Washington Wizards, DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors, and Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder all competed against Griffin.

Joining Evans were Chase Budinger of the Houston Rockets, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers, and Derrick Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ross took on Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz, Eric Bledsoe of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets, Gerald Green of the Indiana Pacers, and James White of the New York Knicks.

Team East, composed of dunkers Paul George, defending champion Terrence Ross, and John Wall won the 2014 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest in commanding fashion.

The 4 dunkers competing were all up-and-coming players: The Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Timberwolves' Zach LaVine, the Magic's Victor Oladipo, and the Nets' Mason Plumlee.

Similar to Howard with Superman, LaVine did his first dunk with a cultural homage, wearing Michael Jordan's jersey from Space Jam.

[21] Aaron Gordon (runner-up) of the Orlando Magic, Will Barton of the Denver Nuggets and Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons also competed.

2012The format for this season was changed so that each participant had 3 dunks, and the results would be entirely decided by fan voting online, via text messaging, and (for the first time) via Twitter.

[citation needed] High-profile players such as Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley have also declined to participate citing it as an unnecessary risk to injury.

Ben Maller of Fox Sports Radio reported that the NBA issued a media advisory over an hour before the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest began, referring to Blake Griffin as the winner.