Suns owner offers hefty sum for 2027 Dunk Contest participants
Over the last several years, the NBA has struggled to field an appealing group of participants in the dunk contest and 3-point contest, respectively.
However, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia believes he could help that cause, as he’s offered to pay a $1 million prize to the winners of the 2027 dunk contest and 3-point shootout, as well as another $1 million to charity in both events.
“Let’s get the best guys in,” Ishbia said Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” via ESPN. “Let’s make it awesome.”
It’s too early to know if that will make a difference, but it could only help bring star talent to those two events that used to be must-watch television. The 3-point contest has had more luck luring in All-Star talent, but it’s been the dunk contest where that’s been nothing short of a struggle.
It has become a drastically hard task to get even a household name to commit to competing. There have been several big-name players to publicly flirt with the idea of participating, but it hasn’t gone beyond that.
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There is no clarity about whether it’s pride, not wanting to look foolish if their performance isn’t up to par, or just simply not wanting to add an additional responsibility to the list for that weekend for the star talent.
What is clear is that Ishbia wants to put an end to that problem, which the NBA seemingly has every year during All-Star weekend. Time will tell if he can make a difference.
