2012 NBA Dunk Contest: Weak Field a Sign Competition Is Fading in the Pros

The 2012 NBA slam dunk showdown will not include Blake Griffin or LeBron James.

The event has absolutely zero star power.

The league announced Iman Shumpert, Paul George, Chase Budinger and Derrick Williams.

JaVale McGee doesn't get a chance at redemption, Jeremy Evans will not get a chance to put his athleticism in front of the public eye, nor will there will be any stars in the event.

Here's the problem: the competition has lost a lot of luster of late, and a watered-down field isn't going to suddenly bring back the gusto.

After last season, when we saw Griffin soar to new heights and McGee bring down the house with his unreal athleticism, we're left with a 2012 group of candidates that the average fan will have a tough time getting excited about.

The format has changed this time around. There are no longer in-house judges or multiple rounds.

Instead?

Three dunks per contestant, one single round and a fan vote through NBA.com, Twitter and text messaging that determines the winner.

The change of pace does provide some intrigue, considering that nobody will be saving anything they've got in the tank, but the problem this year is not with the format—it is about those chosen.

For a competition that has drawn some serious scrutiny about who is involved in the past, the NBA is doing itself no favors by submitting a subpar field.

There is more athleticism in this particular crop than some might imagine, but this is not how the league wanted to follow up an exciting go-around last year.

It's never going to be easy to bring in star power, because the "high-profile" names don't want to be shown up by someone with less notoriety.

However, the league failed to address this from the fan point of view.

The casual fans will not make it a point of emphasis to tune into the event.

With Blake Griffin last year, almost everybody was watching.

It doesn't need to be a display of slam dunks filled with All-Stars or top 10 players, but it does need to have something that will draw in the average fan in order to be viewed in a positive light.

Look, dunks are awesome.

Regardless of who is participating in any given year, there will always be those who tune in just to watch what might happen. That's a huge part of the allure of this particular competition during All-Star Weekend.

But just imagine how much stronger that allure would be if it were guys like Russell Westbrook flying through the lane.

The bar has been set fairly low this season, so perhaps that is a good thing.

Expectations aren't high for this group, so it's a good opportunity for a lot of people to be impressed with what those guys might do.

With all that said, the NBA could've done better in treating its fans to a better show.

It just feels like this lineup was slopped together at the last moment.

Don't cheapen something that is already losing its meaning among the fans.

That's not what people want to see.