Michael Jordan won a slam dunk contest. LeBron James has yet to enter one that is until the news the world heard on February 14, 2009. James told TNT sideline reporter Cheryl Miller that he will put his name in the 2010 NBA slam dunk contest. But will The King really be in the contest? He said it with a pumped up look on his face and was enthusiastic about it. The Jordan/James comparisons were through the roof when James entered the league. Those comparisons have died down as of late as he is being compared more to Magic Johnson that Jordan. During the TNT broadcast, they were discussing James and Jordan. Saying how Jordan was in a dunk contest and electrified the world with his outstanding dunks and if LeBron really is going to be the next Jordan he has to be in the dunk contest. Jordan wanted to be the best at everything. He won the dunk contest. He won six NBA titles. When people said he couldn’t pass and was a ball-hog, he had a career high in assists. If James wants to go down as the greatest player of all-time, he needs to have the Jordan mindset. He has to think that he will be the best in every aspect of the game. Dunking happens to be a part of the game. Is this bluff? LeBron might have said it in the heat of the moment, but now the NBA world thinks that the almighty LeBron James will be competing next season in the slam dunk competition. He also claims that he can dunk on a 13 foot rim compared to Dwight Howard’s 12 foot rim. King James will be the headline for all-star Saturday night next season in the contest in which fans have been waiting for him to be a part of since his rookie season. Even though he says he will be in the dunk contest, don’t be surprised if this is just all an act.
If LeBron is in it, he'll win it because he's LeBron. Though, with his athleticism and leaping ability, you have to think he'd be able to come up with some good stuff.
No he won't, he's Lebron so he's winning the whole thing. There's no way they eliminate the King in the first round no matter how shitty his dunks are.
It's tricky to say whether or not he'll be in it next year at this point. He has seen the power of the dunk contest; Dwight Howard goes from winning a fan vote dunk contest last year to being the lead vote getter for this season's all-star game. LeBron knows about marketing, and now recognises the dunk contest as a viable and incredibly powerful marketing tool. As such, I think he'll be in it and, since it's a fan vote, there is a decent chance that he'll win it. I wouldn't be too sure about what he'd do, but at present I've got a pretty good idea. First, there will be a 13' dunk - he said he could do it, so that's a given. If he doesn't do that, there would be huge disappointment because he pretty much said he would do it. That would surely be a guaranteed 50 because Dwight got a 50 for the 12' dunk (I think, and I cba to check lol). Since he has an extra foot to play with, I'd also expect him to do possibly a couple of dunks on a 12' (or possibly 11') basket. In the same vein as before, if he could just do something like a basic between the legs, or a reverse, on an 11' or 12' basket, he'd pretty much be guaranteed a 50. The last dunk would likely be some kind of throwback, possibly a mimick of an classic Jordan dunk, but perhaps with an extra twist to put his own stamp on it.
Yep, that's the number one reason every top NBA player should consider when thinking about being part of the dunk contest.
should've been in the dunk contest by now......I never understood why the guy who wants to be a global icon wouldn't enter a contest known for boosting a players popularity (Jordan, Nique, Kobe, Vince, Dwight, etc.).............
This isn't worth debating....just give him the trophy now. Nate Robinson already said he doesn't have anymore dunks and doesn't really want to defend it, but would if he had too. Dwight Howard isn't going to participate next year because why would he show up and allow himself to be a prop again. And any other dunkers who have any pride at all are going to shy away from participating because the whole thing is rigged. Just give Lebron the trophy and save us all from watching bad television. The slam dunk contest is dead, unless you like watching scripted contests like "profesional" wrestling.
Because he knows he's a power dunker, not quite flashy enough to be a lock for a title in one of these contests. The carefully (Nike) constructed mythological veneer of his dunks will most likely be shattered by next year.
In the first round of the dunk contest howard could have stood under the basket and jumped straight up and threw it down and the judges would have 10's in the air before the ball hit the ground. The first round of the contest was a complete joke and it should have been pretty obvious to anyone, not just rudy fans.
At this point, it's really hard to tell if he will actually be joining that slam dunk contest. I definitely would want him to join and I know a lot of people expect him to after what he said last time. It would be a big disappointment if he didn't. It could have just been a 'heat of the moment' thing you know. Everyone was excited and i guess so was LeBron. But still, what kept him from joining in the previous years? By next all-star break, he could be in that same mentality again. But if he were to join, I do hope he'd work on his athleticism because we already know that he can jump and he can throw it down hard. Question is, can he fly? As in do gravity-defying moves that we have never seen before? *I want to see him jump over Nate hahaha ) and not just jump over Nate and just avoid hitting Nate's head with his legs but completely jump over Nate - all 5'9 of him hahaha ) That would be a nice thing to see! Or Earl Boykins would do. That's still a challenge. And yeah, I'd hope for some judges next year who aren't going to judge based on popularity alone but by how wicked the actual dunk is.
He has the skills and talent to be among the better dunk contest participants. I'm not sure why people are writing him off now based on what they've seen in games. That's an entirely different thing than when a player has months to prepare for a single event.
Well I suppose people are dismissing him because LeBron wrote himself off from this competition for years.