Protesters are marching all across the United States as they seek to see real change when it comes to injustice and police brutality. After George Floyd was murdered by the police in Minneapolis, it became clear that people weren’t going to stand for these atrocities any longer and the protests are a prime example of that. 

Protesting all day long can definitely get hard and when the subject matter is so heavy, it is important to maintain your mental health and keep things light every once in a while. Well, in the video clip below, that’s exactly what some demonstrators did. As you can see, they placed a basketball net on a school bus and wrote “Black Lives Matter” on the backboard. From there, they engaged in a friendly dunk contest that featured some pretty incredible athletic feats.

Certain media organizations would rather post videos of rioters and looters who aren’t even real members of the protests. However, when it comes to heartwarming clips like this, they stay silent. It’s clear as day that many of the protesters want to bring about real change while also providing a safe space for members of the community. While this dunk contest may play well to social media, it speaks to the idea that these protests are overwhelmingly positive and are bringing folks together.

The NBA should have these guys take part in the dunk contest at next season’s all-star game.

Aaron Gordon was rightfully pissed off after the NBA All-Star Dunk Competition back in February. Of course, he lost the contest to Derrick Jones Jr of the Miami Heat. Much of the vitriol behind this loss was directed at Dwyane Wade who clearly skewed his scores in order to give a Heat player the win. Last night, Gordon decided to finally get everything off of his chest, by dropping a diss track directed at Wade called "9 OUT OF 10."

Throughout the track, Gordon drops off bars about how Wade disrespected him and that he should have won the competition. He even made reference to the famous dunk in which he hopped over Tacko Fall who is 7'6."

Wade got to see the music video for the track and decided to take to Twitter where he gave his response. Instead of being upset, Wade gave Gordon some advice.

Steph Curry's 2019-2020 campaign will certainly be one to forget. The NBA sharpshooter suffered a broken hand at the beginning of the season and as soon as he came back, the league was suspended due to the Coronavirus. Ever since the NBA shut down, Curry has been spending a lot of time connecting with all of his fans on Instagram live. These live sessions have led to some funny moments and recently, he decided to take a swipe at none other than Dwyane Wade.

A fan was talking about some sort of contest between Steph and his brother, Seth. The fan said Seth won which led Curry to compare the fan's opinion to when Wade infamously gave Derrick Jones Jr the dunk contest win, over Aaron Gordon. It was a pretty subtle jab and yet another example of people's displeasure over Wade's decision-making.

Kobe Bryant's tragic passing came as a shock to the NBA community and over the last few weeks, the players have come together with a plethora of tributes that pay homage to the late star. Dwight Howard was one of the players who had a close relationship with Kobe, even if sometimes it wasn't on good terms. Over the past couple of years, the two had patched things up and Bryant was even supposed to help Howard in this year's dunk contest. With recent events in mind, Howard decided to change his dunk contest routine and added the number 24 to his Superman cape.

According to Tania Ganguli, Howard revealed what his plans were for Kobe, had he been there. Essentially, Kobe would have handed Howard the cape which would have had the number 24. It would have been an incredible moment although what Howard ended up doing was just as great.

It was a battle that ended in conspiracy, tiebreakers, unbelievable dunks, and more: Miami Heat's Derrick Jones Jr. won the NBA dunk contest in a neck-and-neck battle with Orlando Magic's Aaron Gordon. 

Dwight Howard is set to compete in the 2020 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Saturday night in Chicago. He had hoped Kobe Bryant would be there to help with his performance, but according to ESPN, he may honor him during the event.

Zach LaVine has consistently been one of the best dunkers in the entire NBA. This was discovered during the 2016 NBA All-Star Dunk Contest when LaVine went toe-to-toe with Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic. Many felt as though Gordon was robbed of a win although LaVine was simply magical as he came through with some incredibly heroic moves. While he isn't participating in the competition this year, it hasn't stopped him from trying out some incredible dunks in practice.

In the clip below, LaVine attempts to pull off a 360 dunk all while jumping from the free-throw line. Of course, Michael Jordan infamously dunked from the free-throw line except the major difference is that Jordan went straight to the hoop as opposed to LaVine who tried to spin all the way around.

Shaq is easily one of the funniest people in sports media right now and he is never shy to crack some jokes at someone else's expense. Last night, Shaq was on the NBA on TNT panel with Dwyane Wade and Candace Parker. At one point, the crew got to interview dunk contest competitor Aaron Gordon. Throughout the interview, Gordon appeared to be high out of his mind although no one can confirm if that was actually true or not. Either way, Shaq made sure to make fun of Gordon in the most subtle ways possible.

As you can see in the videos below, Shaq alludes to Gordon getting "high" on his dunks while the host next to Shaq asks Gordon to "smoke" the competition. At the end of the segment, Shaq tells Parker and D-Wade that he plans on cutting the weeds around his home. Parker and Wade were trying to hide their laughter although you could clearly spot them cracking up.

Less  than two weeks after shooting down rumors that he planned to compete in the 2020 NBA Dunk Contest, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard has confirmed that "Superman" is, in fact, making a come back. 

Howard, 34, headlined some of the most memorable Dunk Contest competitions against Nate Robinson during a three-year run from 2007-09, including a championship in 2008.

Vince Carter is about to turn 43 and incredibly, he is still playing in the NBA. His 22nd season will be his last and to celebrate, fans are asking that he compete in the dunk contest at this year’s All-Star game. While this would be a lot of fun to watch, it doesn’t seem to be in the cards. During an episode of the Winging It podcast, Carter was asked about his potential All-Star game appearance. Carter was very firm about his intentions and we’re sure fans everywhere are disappointed about it.

“No chance,” he said. Carter went on to talk about Trae Young’s insistence that he participate. He also spoke about keeping his body in shape and how the All-Star break is necessary for him at this point in his career.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

“I also heard about my teammate Trae Young has put it out there that I should be in the contest,” Carter said. “I just want to make sure I have enough gas in the tank. I want to lay it all on the line. That last hurrah. Play hard.”

While Carter not being in the All-Star game might be a disappointment, we’re just happy to see him play out his final year in style.