Tracy McGrady challenges NBA stars to revitalize Slam Dunk Contest: ‘You afraid?’

NBC is getting set to host the NBA Slam Dunk Contest next month, and it is pleading for the stars to make it an event again.

It used to be arguably the best all-star event in any sport, but the Dunk Contest has now been dead for years. And it’s not because basketball fans don’t like dunks anymore, and it’s not because all the dunks have been tried. It’s because NBA stars refuse to dunk in the Dunk Contest. NBC is trying to change that, with Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady lobbying hard for current players to care about the Dunk Contest like they once did.

Carter has been calling on players to revitalize the Dunk Contest throughout the NBA on NBC’s reboot season. And Tuesday night, he released a list of players who should enter their names into the contest. Anthony similarly urged players to revitalize the Dunk Contest, suggesting Zion Williamson could be the perfect candidate to do it.

Melo lays out why it would benefit Zion Williamson to compete in the 2026 Dunk Contest. pic.twitter.com/4mM8Vx7JEP

— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) January 7, 2026

“Zion, this is your time to come back and put yourself back to where everybody wanted you to be at,” Anthony said. “You should be in the Slam Dunk Contest. Everybody knows what you can do, you had your following since high school, since middle school. Get that following back, get these kids to look at Zion Williamson again. Sell your sneaker, sell your brand, get out there on the big stage.”

But the most impassioned plea came from McGrady, who challenged the league’s current players to value the Dunk Contest.

T-MAC’S IMPASSIONED PLEA TO GET PLAYERS TO JOIN THE DUNK CONTEST. pic.twitter.com/P9JjXDfBkL

— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) January 7, 2026

“The Slam Dunk Contest, we need to bring it back. Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine had an amazing Slam Dunk Contest. Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Steve Francis had a great Dunk Contest. What’s up with all you young guys, man? It’s just dunking! Y’all do it every day. You don’t want to perform in front of 20,000 people? Celebrities in there, the energy, the building is crazy, and all the attention is on you. You afraid of that?”

“Get in the Slam Dunk Contest, we on NBC, we running the show,” McGrady added. “You got Vince Carter, you got T-Mac, what else do you want?”

If the stars came out, it would revitalize the Dunk Contest. It doesn’t matter that all the dunks have been done already. Fans will still show up to watch Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant and Zion Williamson trade classic dunks over the gimmicks that have been attempted in recent years. But once the trend of stars competing in the Dunk Contest ended, it’s nearly impossible to lure them back to an event that they don’t have to take part in.

Credit NBC for trying. Having Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter challenging players to get involved is a better idea than Michael Irvin calling on NFL players to do the Dunk Contest. But NBA stars making $40 million a year have more to lose than gain in the Dunk Contest. Which is why a G-Leaguer is now a three-time champion.