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As years go by, All-Star weekends come and go. With each passing year, less importance is placed on the actual All-Star game, and more attention is placed on the other events. One event aside from the game, the Slam Dunk Contest, is different from that trend. Once a contest dominated by the league's greats, it disappeared for several years in the 1990's. But a fun event should be one that the league's best players wish to be in and the fans love to watch. But that is not really the case anymore.

Everybody remembers Michael Jordan going head to head with Dominique Wilkins back in 1988, and those who weren't old enough to watch have seen and heard the story. Everybody knows about Spud Webb being the shortest ever to win the dunk contest. But today, people remember the "Dunk Wheel" and the players at the end of their team's bench being the only ones who participate - not the superstars. And that is what it has come to.

I remember sitting at home in 2000 watching Vince Carter single-handedly resurrect the Slam Dunk contest, and I enjoyed every minute of it. But that showcase was sandwiched between several years of mediocrity, including the contest being taken away for a few years, and four years of gimmicks. The NBA has thrown so many extras and guidelines down the last few years, and so many players have declined invitations to participate, the dunk contest has not been what it was designed to be, a skills competition that challenges the best dunkers to use their creativity to defy convention. Why should players have to spin a wheel to determine what dunk they should recreate? Why should players who have been in the league for three years or less be the only ones allowed to participate? The contest is about creation, not recreation. The contest is about the best dunkers showing what they can do.

The wheel is gone, thankfully, but the "three years or less" rule still unfortunately exists.

Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby, in my opinion, is the best All-Star skills competition in all of sports. But it shouldn't be. I understand that home runs are what brings the fans to the seats for baseball. But slam dunks are what brings the fans to the seats for basketball. The one thing the Slam Dunk Contest has over the Home Run Derby is the art of creativity. In baseball, all you can do is swing for the fences; not much else. But in the dunk contest, your options are only limited by gravity.

The Slam Dunk Contest will probably be the most watched event of this year's NBA All-Star weekend in Denver, besides the actual game, but the contest will not reach its full potential until the best dunkers agree to participate and the NBA only limits them to their own creativity. But regardless of who is there and what they have to do, I'll be there, watching and hoping for someone to steal the show.

Amare Stoudemire is a superstar now, so his involvedment is appreciated.

J.R. Smith and Josh Smith have the physical tools to someday be NBA stars. So they'll be fun to watch.

Chris Anderson is the underdog, so he has a chance to prove everyone wrong.

If we can't have the NBA's top superstars in the contest, we can root for the next best thing; young players who can fly.

With that said, think positively, hope for a good show, and enjoy the contest.