Thanks to the great performances of both Desmond Mason and Jason Richardson, the 2003 dunk contest would begin a new era. These new dunk contests didn’t need sheepishly avoid the discussion of why stars weren’t involved but rather embrace its new lot in life.

Moving forward, the contest would embrace its ability to feature the young, great athletes in the NBA. No longer was it an embarrassment that top stars didn’t want to participate, the contest had moved past that point and instead would look to the future and look to the rising stars, both literally and figuratively, of the NBA.