Zach LaVine isn't the first Slam Dunk winner to walk away from defending his crown

It is possible to be all out of dunks. After two trips to the Slam Dunk Contest, including two wins and a legendary dunk-off with Aaron Gordon during the 2016 classic, Zach LaVine appears to have admitted as much.

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The Minnesota Timberwolves swingman, enjoying his best season as a 20-point scorer in year No. 3, has declined the opportunity to defend his title, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes. The 21-year old will watch from the sidelines in New Orleans next month, the latest in a long line of Slam Dunk champions that have passed on returning to defend their title.

As such, we probably won’t get a chance to witness what would have been the competition’s first 360 dunk as executed following a free throw line jump:

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The 2017 participants have not been revealed in full, but the absence of LaVine is likely too big a blow to overcome in the face of what could have been.

It’s entirely reasonable and understandable on Zach’s part, though. Not only is he a certified star and potential one-day All-Star, but after winning in 2015 and dunking for what felt like (so many glorious) hours in 2016, it is very possible that he’s all out of fresh ideas to toss out on TNT.

Which is a shame, but not unprecedented.

Julius Erving, as always, set the tone. Not only did he win the first televised dunk contest in pro sports history, winning the ABA’s 1976 competition with a free throw line slam …

… he became the first champion to defend his crown during the next go-round.

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The problem for Erving was that the NBA’s assimilation of four “expansion” ABA teams in 1976 put any All-Star weekend hijinks on hold as the NBA attempted to find ways to become fun again. The NBA’s first Slam Dunk Contest took place in 1984, and though Erving returned to defend his title he was all of 34-years old at the time (utilizing the help of his children to pick dunk attempts), and it showed slightly:

Though not always:

Erving would go on to lose to Larry Nance, and both would return in 1985 to lose to Dominique Wilkins, who would then return in time to lose to Spud Webb in 1986.

Webb, injured, was denied a title defense in 1987 as Michael Jordan took the trophy, as Wilkins and Webb both lost to MJ as Jordan earned a second consecutive title in Chicago in 1988.

That would be the last time Jordan participated in the Dunk Contest. By then the league’s most popular player, the 1987-88 NBA MVP thought the competition beneath him in 1989 (when Webb and Wilkins both returned, and Kenny “Sky” Walker winning), taking his talents to a last-place showing in that year’s Three-Point Shootout instead.

From there, the precedent was somewhat set. Not unlike American presidents adhering to George Washington’s unofficial two-term rule, many Slam Dunk winners walked away after their one year of glory, forgetting that Dr. J, Dominique, Larry Nance, Spud Webb and even Jordan (who won two titles out of three showings, the first alongside Dr. J in 1985) had returned to the setting numerous times.

Dominique Wilkins returned yet again to win in 1990, but retired from Contest competition soon after. Dee Brown passed on defending his title in 1992 after a 1991 win, and Cedric Ceballos’ debated 1992 Slam Dunk …

(He could see through the blindfold.)

… win seemed to have its come-uppance once Cedric returned (and failed) to defend it in 1993.

Harold Miner won the Contest in 1993 and 1995, but by then the competition had lost its luster. Isaiah Rider’s win in 1994 inspired him to return, unsuccessfully, to defend the title in 1995, as Kobe Bryant glommed onto an approximation of Rider’s East Bay Funk Dunk …

… to win in 1997 …

… after Brent Barry (the 1995 Slam Dunk Contest winner) passed on defending his title.

All throughout, Michael Jordan watched from afar. Barely showing up in time for Sunday’s All-Star Game, much less Friday’s required media availability or the Saturday night showcase.

The NBA cribbed the contest for 1998 after Bryant’s win, and it took years for Vince Carter to earn his place as the Contest’s most-celebrated dunker in 2000:

Carter would never go on to defend his title, though, nor would Kobe Bryant – even though Kobe was still in his early-to-mid 20s. Replacements Desmond Mason and Jason Richardson wins and subsequent title defenses only took the shine off the contest as familiar, non-star, faces dotted the Contest landscape.

By the time Nate Robinson took three titles in four years from 2006 to 2009, the whole thing had just about lost its edge. Champions either hung on too long, for one more prizefight package, or retired with what felt like an undefeated record.

By 2015 we’d counted Fred Jones, Jeremy Evans and Terrence Ross as Slam Dunk Contest champions, though LaVine more than did his part to bring the competition not so much back to relevance, but to becoming worth our time yet again.

It’s now up to Aaron Gordon (rumored to be on board) to act more the part of Dominique Wilkins, as opposed to Nate Robinson, in response.

His competitors will be announced soon. Vince Carter, we’ll remind, is still active.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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