What If Wednesday: If Dunking Was Banned Today

Back in the years between 1967-1976, the NCAA banned players from dunking during games. Though there wasn’t a specific reason given for why it was banned, many speculated that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who at the time was Lew Alcindor, was the factor to why dunking was restricted. Alcindor dominated the court averaging 26.4 points per game, shooting 64% in his college career. He constantly dunked the ball which led the NCAA to believe he had the upper-hand amongst his peers. Even though this ban only lasted nine years, it makes me wonder what would today’s game look like if players were not allowed to dunk.

*Current basketball season still in action

I know you guys are reading this and laughing hysterically because this is probably something you can’t even imagine. The game of basketball is more quicker and faster than its ever been, and we’ve seen some amazing dunks in the past few years. But what if you really couldn’t dunk in the games?! I honestly believe that both the NCAA and the NBA would lose a lot of fans which would lead to the loss of a lot of money. In addition, we would probably see a comeback from Slamball!

Imagine Lebron James on a fastbreak and he does a finger-roll instead of one of his famous tomahawks — every fan would have a heart of disappointment. I personally live to see players getting dunked on and watching a player perform a lay-up over a defender would not draw me out of my seat one bit. If we thought players shot a lot of threes now, if dunking was not allowed, it would definitely give players more incentive to let it rain from downtown.  Some believe this is the reason for the unpopularity in the WNBA. Unfortunately, many fans out there don’t watch women’s basketball due to the lack of excitement from dunks and alley-oops. However, I’m 99.9% sure that this rule would never make its way back into the game of basketball. Dunking brings so much excitement to the game and it means a lot to many viewers all around the world.

Could you imagine if dunking was banned in the NCAA or the NBA?