The NBA Slam-Dunk Contest is the most popular part of All-Star weekend, outshining the game itself, and for good reason. Onion Sports looks back at the athletic aerial display's most timeless moments:
1976: The very first slam-dunk contest is won by Kentucky Colonels center Artis Gilmore, who electrifies the crowd by making airborne love to one cheerleader from each ABA team en route to a windmill slam
1988: The greatest slam-dunk rivalry of all time reaches its apex when Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins are unable to agree whether "slam dunk" is one word or two
1994: A mysterious man named Isaiah Rider appears out of nowhere, wins the slam-dunk contest with an amazing backboard-level between-the-legs dunk, and then disappears, never to be seen again
1996: With a single foul-line dunk, Brent Barry breaks the foul-line-dunk color barrier
1997: Air Bud stuns the crowd by dunking with his hind legs
1999: As there was no contest this year due to the lockout, commissioner David Stern awards himself the title
2000: The judges award the trophy to Vince Carter after the unfortunate young man gets his elbow caught in the rim
2002: A touching 9/11 tribute goes horribly wrong when Desmond Mason slips while attempting an Airplane Slam and crashes directly into "Twin Towers" Shawn Bradley and Rashard Lewis