Gone are the days when superstars like Air Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving and Vince Carter graced the Slam Dunk Contest with their presence.

Today’s Slam Dunk Contest needs reform.

At first glance, the 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest lineup looked very promising and packed with high fliers. But none of the players who competed are in the starting line-up for their organizations.

How many of the competitors played in the All-Star game? Zero. Only Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets and Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors participated in an All-Star weekend event, playing in the Rising Stars Challenge, formerly known as the Rookie-Sophomore game.

Terrence Ross is a rookie who is shooting less than 40 percent from the field. Ross’ Player Efficiency Rating is 10.39. To put that in perspective, that is 278th in the NBA.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest champion!

2012 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest winner Jeremy Evans and 2013 runner-up plays a staggering five minutes a game.

Also, there’s no denying Gerald Green’s dunking ability, for anybody that saw Green’s alley-oop windmill slam can vouch for his selection. But superstar? No way.

Before fans demanded superstars, can we at least have rotation players?

Superstars have been absent from the contests for years with an occasional marquee player competing. In 2000, Vince Carter of the Dallas Mavericks might have had the best dunk contest in history, completing dunks that had never been thought of before. Carter surprised everyone with his reverse 360-windmill dunk.

Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers was hailed as the new “Superman” with his memorable defeat of Nate Robinson in 2008.

While Carter and Howard were “superstars” among fan support, the level of competition in recent contests has not been loaded with top players.

Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler and Spud Webb all competed in the 1988 contest. Can we rewind time back to 1988 and relive one of the greatest dunk contests ever?

Jordan won the contest in 1987 when he created eight different dunks. 2013 winner Terrence Ross only had to generate four.

While owners are paying players millions of dollars, do they remain skeptical about letting the players enter, or is it the player’s decision?

Maybe the fear injury, or simply losing.

Superstar Lebron James has almost everything: three MVP awards, multiple All-Star game appearances and an NBA championship but not a NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest award. If you want to sweep all NBA awards, compete just once. They’ll give you the trophy before you arrive to the arena.

So  where  are  you James?  Russell Westbrook?   Superstars, you owe it to the  league. You owe  it  to us, the loyal fans.