Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross dunks after leaping over a youngster during the 2013 NBA all star slam dunk contest at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross won the 2013 NBA Slam Dunk Contest beating out the defending champion Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz in the final round.

Ross got a fortunate first dunk score of 50 after needing five attempts to finish his slam. After that first dunk he was solid the rest of the way capping off the competition with a between-the-legs dunk over a small boy.

Evans relied on props as expected and was impressive to a degree but not enough to overcome Ross, who took home 58 percent of the fans’ votes.

The favorites, James White and Gerald Green, dimmed in the bright lights of All-Star Weekend. They both struggled to eve finish dunks while not even seeming to attempt the most difficult.

White first took off from the free throw line with two hands and received only a score of 45. His second dunk was planned to be one from the right wing where he switched hands with the ball but he was unable to complete it.

Green, who won the competition in 2007, tried dunking a ball twice in one leap after cutting off the net but could not do so after many tries.

This contest clearly need the game’s best players to compete. Whether it be LeBron James who could easily win it or even someone like Kevin Durant who could at least draw more attention to the event.

White and Green had a chance to put this event back on the map but they failed to do so. Ross was solid but that’s about it.

November 20, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; New York Knicks shooting guard James White (4) dunks against the New Orleans Hornets during the fourth quarter of a game at the New Orleans Arena. The Knicks defeated the Hornets 102-80. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

It’s NBA All-Star Weekend and the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest will be held tonight. The Saturday night festivities will begin at 8:30 p.m. EST. The dunk contest will be the final event and likely to start between 9:30-10:00 p.m. EST.

There won’t be any superstars participating in this year’s contest but there is more hope than usual that the contest will return to glory this year.

There is a new format this year where the six contestants will be divided into their respective conferences. There are two rounds where the best scores from each conference will then meet in a final round.

Here’s a look at each contestant and their dunking highlights:

Eastern Conference

James White, New York Knicks
Stats: 6.7 MPG, 1.8 PPG, 0.8 RPG

White is 30 years old and only in his third season in the NBA. He was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers back in 2006 and has never really found a home in the league playing in just 44 career games so far. White’s claim to fame has always been his dunking. He finished second in the McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk Contest and has become a YouTube sensation with some of his dunks in dunk contests around the world. This is the first time White has been on an NBA team at the time of All-Star Weekend so it is fitting that he will be competing in the contest as one of the favorites to win it. White loves getting running starts for his dunks and jumping off one foot. He will use his great speed to his advantage with at least a few attempts from the free throw line tonight.

Gerald Green, Indiana Pacers
Stats: 19.8 MPG, 6.6 PPG, 2.5 RPG

Green has a history with the NBA Slam Dunk Contest already having won it back in 2007. Like White, Green was also out of the league for a little while but has come back strong the past few seasons with the Brooklyn Nets and now Indiana Pacers. Green and White have met before in a dunk contest in Russia a few years back which is known as one of the best ever. Green is a two-footed dunker and gets up extremely high with his face nearly level with the rim often times.

Terrence Ross, Toronto Raptors
Stats: 16.9 MPG, 6.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG

Ross was drafted 8th overall by the Toronto Raptors in this past NBA Draft. He came in as a solid outside shooter and great athlete which he has lived up to with his invite to this contest. Ross will join a long list of participants from Toronto in the history of the dunk contest which includes Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. Ross has been especially good with windmill dunks this season.

The NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest hit an all-time low tonight. And to think I actually had any sort of expectations.

Everything about it was horrible beginning with the painfully forced emphasis on creativity. There were about three good dunks out of the 12 and the best ones didn’t even come on the first attempt.

It’s pretty obvious how now we need stars in this competition now. It’s all up to LeBron James really. He has the chance to save the dunk contest by competing in it next year. But just like he decided not to go play in New York and save the Knicks, he probably won’t due this either.

Utah Jazz benchwarmer Jeremy Evans won the contest with 29 percent of the popular vote. Out of four guys 25 percent would have been a tie so at least it was one of the closest dunk contests in history.

The silver lining was the performance by the TNT crew and Charles Barkley in particular. They were great and provided some laugh out loud moments. They knew it was terrible and Barkley didn’t hold back and was honest as usual.

The three-point contest is really the only decent thing left and I’m sure a lot of people are burnt out on that too. It always seems to provide some drama though and basketball junkies have to love seeing great shooters go through that drill.

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant had a chance in the three-point contest but fell just short losing to Kevin Love in the finals. The greatest possible outcome of the night would have been is Durant just went stupid in the three-point contest and hit like 25.

Excitement was not in the cards tonight though.

Until the best players start competing in the dunk contest and take pride in winning it, the contest will continue to die and rightfully so.