Another dunk contest has passed, and yet again fans have come away disappointed. While last year's competition with Blake Griffin captured a good amount of attention, the recent focus on props and a lack of star power seems to have brought down the profile of what used to be one of the NBA's most signature events. The changes in this year's contests, with no judges, fan voting, one round, and three dunks per contestant, promised something new. Sadly, we saw a lot of attempts we've seen before, with diminishing returns.

[ Video: Kevin Love takes 3-point Shootout ]

Nevertheless, Saturday was not without its share of solid dunks. Utah Jazz big man Jeremy Evans, a largely unknown player with fewer than 100 minutes played this season, made a name for himself and earned 29 percent of the fans' vote as this year's champion.

After the jump, check out rankings of all 12 dunks from this year's competition, in order of impressiveness, including the two-ball alley-oop over teammate Gordon Hayward that won Evans the trophy.

Read More »

The 2012 Sprite slam dunk contest didn't start off well for Jeremy Evans. The little-known Utah Jazz forward — a late entrant into the grand finale of the NBA's annual All-Star Saturday proceedings after New York Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert pulled out due to injury — kicked off the competition by softly reversing an off-the-bounce self-alley-oop with a camera on his head.

[ Related: Ranking the 2012 dunk contest, dunk-by-dunk ]

The opening dunk was a neat idea — "Let's show the folks at home what it is like to dunk a basketball!" — but it didn't come off nearly as well as he'd hoped, in part because the pass carried him too close to the rim to throw down with any thunder, and in part because the camera was a tiny little thing that looked like a Bluetooth headset instead of the more obvious and awesome choice, the Ettenauer helmet camera that Albert Brooks wore in "Real Life."

But things got better for Evans in the second round, thanks to a little help from Jazz teammate Gordon Hayward and the introduction of a second ball. Behold:

Read More »

It's a tough weekend for John Wall. First, Detroit Pistons sophomore Greg Monroe scuttles his late-game alley-oop in Friday night's Rising Stars Challenge, taking the bloom off the rose that was his super-cool behind-the-back slam. Now, facing elimination from the Taco Bell Skills Challenge of the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend's Saturday Night festivities, his attempt to throw an off-the-backboard alley-oop to himself goes very, very wrong.

And when it's all said and done, he has to go back to the Washington Wizards and resume playing alongside this, which is basically like realizing in the middle of a Sunday hangover that you have a morning full of boring, awful meetings waiting for you not only on Monday, but also every day thereafter for the rest of your life.

Sorry, John. We here at BDL sincerely hope that your All-Star Weekend curse will be lifted some day.

Read More »

On Monday, Kelly Dwyer noted that New Jersey Nets sharpshooter Anthony Morrow had plans to honor franchise legend Drazen Petrovic at Saturday's Three-Point Contest. It was a great idea to pay tribute to one of the Nets' best players ever, a guy who would have gone on to accomplish even more in the NBA if his life hadn't been cut short by a terrible car accident in 1993.

Morrow followed through on his promise, wearing a classic Petrovic jersey during his first-round run during the Three-Point Contest (screenshots via SB Nation). And while Morrow's 14 points weren't enough for him to advance to the competition's final round, most everyone agreed that his gesture made him the event's emotional winner.

After the jump, check out another angle on the jersey.

Read More »

When the rosters for the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge were picked last Thursday, the tandem of Ricky Rubio and Blake Griffin on Team Shaq looked especially great for its alley-oop potential. With Griffin held out of most of the game to keep him fresh for Sunday's All-Star Game, the results on Friday night were mostly underwhelming. Yet, in the short time these players did play together, they did hook up for one memorable moment.

Very early in the second half, Rubio took an outlet pass and started the break by calmly dribbling the ball through opponent DeMarcus Cousins' legs. Then, to prove that play was just part of the experience, he finished things off with an easy alley-oop to Griffin. It was fun, creative, and unique — exactly the kind of play that makes this game one of the best events of All-Star Weekend every year.

The only downside is that Cousins could feel ashamed of himself for the next two weeks. Of course, given his usual demeanor, he'll probably just get upset and play even better when the Kings return to action this week.

(Video via TBJ)

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
• Fantasy baseball video: This season's breakout stars
• Randy Moss is willing to return to the NFL with no guaranteed money
• Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose lands potential $200M shoe deal

All-Star Weekend's Rookie/Sophomore Game — now called the Rising Stars Challenge — has always stood out for its flashy play and lack of defense. From Jason Williams's elbow pass in 2000 to John Wall's alley-oop off the floor last year, the contest has a rich tradition of guys trying crazy plays that wouldn't be possible in a regular game.

Wall, playing in Friday's game as part of Team Chuck, realizes this precedent exists. So, with the game in its final seconds, and his team well ahead of Team Shaq, he decided to have a little fun and set up an alley-oop to himself from the three-point line. The defenders, including Detroit's Greg Monroe, seemed to be giving him an open lane. So Wall threw the ball ahead and started his run. Except, in one of the greatest jokes in All-Star Weekend history, Monroe then cut in to steal the ball. It was the Rookie Game equivalent of Lucy stealing the ball from Charlie Brown.

It was the end of a tough Rising Stars Challenge for Wall, who took motivation from being picked late in the game's draft and was overshadowed in the game itself by MVP Kyrie Irving, who finished with 34 points. Eventually, people will forget those bits, though. Monroe's joke will never be forgotten.

(Video via TBJ)

Ben & Jerry's will take fortune cookies out of its new Jeremy Lin-inspired ice cream flavor after hearing complaints that the ingredient was racist.

The limited-edition flavor, "Taste the Lin-Sanity," originally featured vanilla frozen yogurt, honey swirls and bits of fortune cookies, the latter ingredient serving as an obvious nod to Lin's heritage. After the backlash, the company pulled the cookies from the mix and replaced them with waffle cone pieces that will be served on the side.

"There seemed to be a bit of an initial backlash about it, but we obviously weren't looking to offend anybody and the majority of the feedback about it has been positive," Ryan Midden, the general manager of the Ben & Jerry's in Cambridge, Ma., told the Boston Globe.

And that quote right there encapsulates the politically correct culture in which we live. Most people liked it, Midden said. But because a few people didn't, Ben & Jerry's caved.

The company says the main reason for removing the fortune cookies was because they got soggy inside the batch. If you believe that, I have a bridge made of Cherry Garcia to sell you.

Read More »

All-Star weekend is a long, drawn-out event full of contests and games both enjoyable and not, entertaining and dull, important and inconsequential. It's the NBA's version of Spring Break, complete with drunkenness and mistakes and all sorts of fun times.

It can be hard to keep track of it all. Luckily, I have made predictions for every single event that are sure to come true. Read them after the jump, and make sure to check back throughout the weekend to read BDL's coverage and see if I was right.

Read More »

Everyone wants a piece of Jeremy Lin these days, but few are able to get it. He's available at events like Friday's All-Star media day and after every Knicks game for press conferences, yet the pressure of constant attention has made it increasingly difficult for normal people to interact with him. A few weeks ago, Madison Square Garden security mistook him for a trainer — now he's the biggest story in New York.

However, a recent auction gave one lucky fan the chance to spend five minutes with Lin and win his game-worn jersey from his 38-point breakout game against the Los Angeles Lakers two weeks ago. But it didn't come cheap. In fact, Pam Schecter paid a total of $42,388 for her husband Mitchell to earn the prize. Watch the video above for the report from CNBC's Darren Rovell.

It makes you wonder exactly how much a whole hour with Lin would go for? This might be the solution America needs to balance the budget.

Sports Halls of Fame have reputations as august institutions that reflect the rich history and accomplishments of their leagues and games. Exhibits hearken back to the greatest moments in sports history. And, crucially, the voters who choose Hall of Fame inductees know the histories of the sport well enough that they can assess a person's viability for inclusion in the proper context.

In conception, induction isn't supposed to be a popularity contest, even if personal resentments and preferences often play into the selections. So it stands to reason that a major Hall of Fame would never open up its selection process. Except, in a press conference Friday, Jerry Colangelo said that the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., will open up the 2013 selection process to a fan vote organized by ESPN. Yes, the same people who voted Vince Carter to the All-Star game well past his sell-by date will now get to have a say in who's displayed forever in Springfield.

Read More »