Orlando Magic forward Victor Oladipo hangs on the rim after dunking the ball against Memphis earlier this season in Orlando, Fla. Oladipo says he is donating a portion of his earnings from the Slam Dunk Contest to three different hospitals earmarked for cancer treatment and research.

NEW YORK — Dominique Wilkins remembers a time not so long ago when the most-anticipated event during NBA All-Star weekend was the dunk contest, how fans looked forward to his duels with Michael Jordan and what creative slam they would come up with next.

Now?

“It’s different,” he said Friday, drawing laughs from a crowd of reporters that surrounded him in a large hotel ballroom in midtown Manhattan. “We never used props. I jumped over a car when I was a kid.”

Indeed, the days when the Human Highlight Film joined Air Jordan in a battle with a ball and a 10-foot hoop are long gone. Many of the game’s most notable names never participate in the dunk contest anymore, and this year’s field — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Oladipo, Mason Plumlee and Zach LaVine — has little hype heading into Saturday night’s event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Instead, this may be a rare year when the 3-point contest has more appeal.

Golden State Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are headlining the event with Atlanta’s Kyle Korver, Houston’s James Harden and Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, Portland’s Wesley Matthews, the Los Angeles Clippers’ J.J. Redick and defending champion Marco Belinelli of San Antonio.

“It definitely should be one of the most fun parts of the weekend,” Curry said.

Part of the extra intrigue is because the 3-point shot has never been more celebrated than it is now. The NBA has become an outside-inside league, where spreading the floor with shooters and moving the ball is all the rage.

And unlike the dunk contest, the best are participating in the 3-point shootout again.

“It seemed like there was a three- or four-year stretch where they were just getting random dudes, like, ‘Oh, you’re coming to All-Star weekend? You can be in the 3-point contest!”’ Redick said. “I was hoping this year they wouldn’t invite (Nets center) Mason Plumlee, and they didn’t. The field is great on paper. I do feel like it’s the best competition ever. It has that feel.”

Schedule changes

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wants to give his players a big assist and lighten their workload.

One of the chief complaints Silver heard during his rookie season on the job was about a condensed schedule that requires teams to play games on consecutive nights and sometimes as many as four games in five nights.

Combined with travel, the busy schedule is taking a toll on players’ health, which in turn weakens the product.

“My goal for next season is to reduce the number of back-to-backs,” Silver said. “And then I don’t know if I can completely eliminate four games in five nights, but bring that as close to zero as I can.”

Silver made the comments while attending an NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service at Graphics Campus along with All-Stars LeBron James and Curry, who spent time shooting and doing drills with school kids.

Silver said the feedback he has received from players and teams prompted him to take a closer look at alleviating the 82-game regular-season schedule.

“We want players to be in optimal condition when they’re playing those games,” Silver said. “Part of it is a mathematical formula: There’s so many games in so many days in which to get those games in. Having said that, there are steps we are taking even moving into next season where we hope to reduce the number of back-to-backs and hopefully come close to eliminating the four games in five nights.”