So we all remember LeBron’s comments following Nate Robinson’s kryptonite antics knocking Dwight Howard off his tremendously high mantle. He said he would be entering the 2010 Dunk Comp in the brand new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. It was one of the most eagerly anticipated dunk contests in the history of the All Star weekend, it had the commentators and players talking throughout the weekend in 2009 when he announced it. As we got closer to the date itself, it became abundantly clear he wasn’t going to be entering.
Some people will say that’s just LeBron James letting down his fans and foes again, that he isn’t a man of his word or one of those other character questioning trademarks. Some people say he just likes the attention and never really was going to enter. Some people even went as far to say he was scared of losing to Shannon Brown. Ludicrous.
Nonetheless it didn’t happen, and the 2010 Dunk Contest went from possibly being the greatest ever, to being the worst. Shannon Brown brought Kobe to help him pull out some of the dunks he has mesmerized the league with since joining the Lakers. He was a complete and utter anti climax, and that is putting it lightly. Maybe he was still shaking off that rebuttal Jason Maxiell presented him with a few weeks earlier at Staples Center. If you haven’t seen it I recommend you look it up, the greatest non situational block I have ever seen, the only other one that comes close was Maxiell blocking Tyson Chandler, which I also recommend.
Gerald Wallace would have been fantastic, if he was around 3 years younger. Nothing else to say. Nate Robinson bravely fought on in his fourth contest, and won this third title, further cementing himself as one of the greatest dunk contestants ever, especially considering he is well under 6ft. Don’t we all wish we had those hops. DeRozan filled out the field and whilst he promised something big, he didn’t really perform and it was a joke he won the Dunk Off against Eric Gordon to get into the contest, Gordon clearly had the better dunks, just DeRozan had the more potential.
There are some guys who are in-game dunkers (Rudy Gay, DeRozan, Shannon Brown), some who are contest dunkers (Nate, Fernandez) and there are guys who can do it in both (Howard, Carter). So there is the chance that LeBron may too be an anti climax. Although I’d be my house that he won’t be. That’s if he finally steps up.
The reason we’re talking about this is he was asked about it recently and said that he has mood swings over the opportunity. LeBron said some times he is 100% confident he is going to do it but then thinks that it might cause some unneeded and unnecessary wear and tear on his body.
Also the world is waiting for the NBA to announce that the Clippers rookie sensation Blake Griffin will be competing. I think the only person that is comparable to Griffin in the NBA at the moment is Dwight Howard. Big men with bigger hops. So the theory that LeBron was worried about losing, which is a legimate concern because if he did lose it would really hurt his reputation as one of if not the league’s best dunker. But James vs Griffin in LA would be something to behold. Perhaps if LeBron came out and put on a show he would not only win back some fans on the West Coast, but also around the country. We’ve seen Howard’s popularity skyrocket since winning in 2008 and it might help repair some of the damage LeBron has caused around the league this past summer.
Just back on LeBron being scared of Shannon Brown. Another video for you all to look up is a little thing called the McDonalds Slam Dunk contest with the best high school dunkers from around the country. The final in 2003 had a Mr LeBron James vs a Mr Shannon Brown. LeBron was successful.