NBA All-Star Weekend is starting to lose its luster, and NBA legend Carmelo Anthony thinks he has a fix for it.
On top of seeing top names like Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards in the Dunk Contest, he wants Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe in the Dunk Contest and Dallas Mavericks' Cooper Flagg in the skills challenge.
"I want to see the Jas, I want to see the Ant Edwards. He has to do it at least once. He has to do it," Carmelo said. "You can add somebody from the rookies. You know, whoever can make the rookie game. I want to see VJ Edgecombe and Philly in the dunk contest more than I want to see Cooper in the dunk contest. Put Cooper in the Skills Challenge. But I want to see VJ in the dunk contest."
"We gotta get Ant, Ja, and Zion [in the dunk contest] ... I'm gonna do what I gotta do to get those guys."
Melo is LOCKED IN on bringing the dunkers we want to see to NBA All-Star Saturday night 💯 pic.twitter.com/3sXVHcrpYv
— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) August 1, 2025
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Since Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon faced off in 2016, the greatest dunking exhibition ever, that event has quickly declined, and it can be evidenced by the 2025 lineup: Mac McClung, A.J. Johnson, Matas Buzelis, and Stephon Castle. Castle and Buzelis could develop into great players and McClung is a phenomenal dunker, but it's hard for the casual fan to be interested in those names.
In the last decade, the biggest names to participate in the Dunk Contest are Victor Oladipo (2018), an over-the-hill Dwight Howard (2020), and Jaylen Brown (2024). That's why Carmelo Anthony wants to bring stars back to the weekend's events, and he said he'll do what he can to fix that now that he's working with NBC.
Edgecombe and Flagg have been facing off since high school, and Edgecombe recently addressed the competitiveness between them on an episode of "Podcast P" with his new 76ers teammate, Paul George.
"It's a friendly rivalry. Off the court, we're close," Edgecombe said. "We're close, but we know on the court we're competing. And we're both competitors... We know, at the end of the day, it's all love between me and Coop."
There was a clip in high school of Flagg telling Edgecombe, "You're not like that," something Edgecombe had to set the record straight about.
Cooper Flagg tell third overall pick VJ Edgecombe he’s not like that ðŸ˜ðŸ”¥pic.twitter.com/0AwKRfZzkF
— MFFL NATION (@NationMffl) June 26, 2025
"The reason why he said that, people thought he said it because, oh, he thinks I'm bad or something," Edgecombe said. "No, I stepped over him. He was on the floor. He got the last shot of the third quarter. And walking to my bench, I see him on the floor, and I just walked over him.
"I literally stepped up— he was on the floor. He shot, flopped, tried to get a foul. I was like, bro, that ain't no foul. And I just walked over him, and then I walked to my bench, and then he came back."
Edgecombe and Flagg have rare opportunities for rookies where they can help drive winning on competitive teams, if they're respective teams can stay healthy. Kyrie Irving will be out for at least half the season for the Mavs, and Anthony Davis is never guaranteed to be healthy. The same could be said for Joel Embiid and Paul George on the 76ers.
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