If the NBA dunk contest was judged by who dressed up in the “coolest” costume while they dunked, the 2018 event would get a 50 score. No doubt.

Since it’s about dunking and not wardrobe changes, I think it’s fair to say that the latest dunk contest officially sucked.

On a night where three competitors changed into different uniforms (and promptly missed their dunks), it’s now more than clear that the dunk contest is in danger of dying a slow, mediocre death in front of bored fans half-heartedly holding up “10” signs.

I’m aware that this isn’t a new opinion, but the event saw a resurgence in 2016 with the fabulous Aaron Gordon/Zach Lavine showdown (Gordon got hosed) and it showed everyone that there were still dunks out there that nobody had ever seen.

So how do you fix the most popular/complained about event in the NBA All-Star weekend?

You bring in the Outsiders.

(YES. Just drink it in for a second before going back to the column. NWO for life. Just get Scott Hall and Kevin Nash involved and all your problems will be solved)

New blood is desperately needed for a revitalization of the dunk contest. How do you do this? It’s easy. You bring in dunkers from outside of the NBA and you kick up the prize money (and the egos) of the participants.

Here’s what I am proposing. You make it a team event, NBA vs. The World. Two participants per team. The NBA team (obviously) consists of two players in the league and The World team would consist of two amateur athletes.

How do you determine the best amateur dunkers? A competition of invited athletes broadcast the weekend before the All-Star break on the social media platform of the NBA’s choice. You could make that original dunk contest rules, whatever, it doesn’t matter.

Are you telling me you wouldn’t want to watch some of these guys go up against two NBA players?

The All-Star weekend main event would consist of two rounds and each participant getting two dunks in the first round. The final round would be one athlete from each team doing their BEST dunk.

Award dunkers for making their dunks on the first attempt. If you miss your first attempt, you get 5 points taken off your score. If you miss on your second attempt, 10 points. If you miss on your third, you get a flat out ZERO for the round. Reward them for pulling off unbelievable dunks on the first try, not attempt two or three like you were seeing over the weekend.

Total team score wins. It’s that simple.

Also, enough with the celebrity judges. You can keep Dr. J. and Lisa Leslie in I guess, they’re legends and they’ve earned it, but enough with the Chris Rocks and Marky Marks of the world doling out 10 scores for dunks we’ve all seen before.

And the cherry on top of the shit cupcake? A total prize of $2 million, split between the two contestants, with an additional $500,000 going to the participant with the best individual dunk in the contest as voted on by the fans.

You can get a sponsor for the prize money. Sprite sponsors everything in the NBA already; you don’t think they’d want their name plastered all over this? Or bring in an outside sponsor who wants to pony up the money. Rice-A-Roni presents the 2019 NBA Dunk contest, who cares, as long as they put up the money.

Who wouldn’t watch this? You’re upping the stakes for the competitors, putting egos against egos, and giving them the NBA players a REAL incentive to go out there and not get embarrassed by an amateur.

Let’s get this done, Adam Silver, chop chop. Forget about draft and playoff reformatting (please don’t forget about gambling, though) and give the nation some sweet, sweet dunks.