Way-back Playback: Vince Carter resurrects the Slam Dunk Contest

Today, there is NBA dunk contest fatigue. The event doesn't have the luster it once did. 

Too many gimmicks and Nate Robinson attempts, combined with a blink-and-you-miss-it digital world have led to social media being more a source of sarcastic remarks on All-Star Saturday Night than praise for feats of athleticism. 

But remember it was a similar situation on Feb. 12, 2000, before the Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend in Oakland, Calif. The NBA had actually removed the event at the previous All-Star Game, two years earlier in New York (there were no festivities in 1999 due to a lockout).

Yet by the dawn of the new millenium in 2000, there was a second-year swingman and nightly highlight machine plying his trade for the Toronto Raptors. It was basically because of Vince Carter the dunk contest was brought back and, that night in Oakland, he didn't disappoint.