26 years ago today, on February 12, 2000, the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest returned to the main stage in Oakland, and Vince Carter didn’t just win it. He essentially reset what “winning it” could look like.
Carter’s performance that night at All-Star Saturday is still remembered less as a contest and more as a takeover: five dunks, five statements, and a feeling in the building that the event had been hijacked by someone operating on a different set of rules. By the end, the Toronto Raptors wing had scored a perfect 50 on three of his five attempts, adding a 49 and a 48 on the other two, and he finished ahead of Houston’s Steve Francis and his Raptors teammate, and cousin Tracy McGrady.
Those numbers explain the win, but not the way it landed. The reaction, players standing, judges scrambling, the crowd responding like they were watching a live special effect, became part of the tape that gets replayed every February when the league tries to sell the idea that the dunk contest can still surprise you. Carter’s night is the reason people still believe it can.
It also became the standard that everything afterward has had to either chase or dodge. When modern contestants get labeled “creative,” it’s often because they avoided being compared directly to Carter’s sheer violence and simplicity. No gimmicks required, no props necessary. Just lift, control, and a kind of confidence that felt like he was narrating the contest as he went.
That is why, 26 years later, the 2000 dunk contest still carries a unique reputation. It’s not just remembered as a win. It’s remembered as the night the dunk contest became must-see again, and the night a single player produced what many still argue is the greatest dunk contest performance of all time.
