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Sports Daily: LeBron Dunks, But Not For the Fans

12:09 PM - February 11, 2014 by RaychelSnr

Do you even dunk, bro? King James does.

Lebron put on an incredible post-practice display with his annual "dunk contest" (see above), reminding fans just how exciting the upcoming All-Star week extravaganza could be. The NBA's Sprite slam dunk contest hasn't fallen away completely in popularity, but some major brand-name talent has been missing in recent years. Thankfully, stars like John Wall, Damian Lillard, and Paul George have joined this year's field of contestants for the February 15 showdown.

But what if LeBron joined the actual competition? Why not have the NBA's most emotion-stirring player get involved with the contest that highlights the game's most powerful play.

Sound Off: Does LeBron James have the skill and creativity to win a slam dunk contest?

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Member Comments

# 1 JODYE @ 02/11/14 12:42 PM

More of LeBron trying to get attention.

He did this last year around this time in Pre-Game warmups. He knows what he is doing.

# 2 The 24th Letter @ 02/11/14 01:21 PM

Injury's man....they've robbed us of actual story lines this year

# 3 VDusen04 @ 02/11/14 01:29 PM

To echo what I stated in the off-court forum, I'm baffled as to why this short practice video is receiving all this attention (was the number four top story on ESPN.com yesterday). The dunks showcased almost all boiled down to being relatively standard tomahawk flushes. The flashiest he got was putting down a double pump reverse dunk which again, isn't exactly ground breaking. James has spent countless layup lines doing way more impressive dunks without those clips going viral like the one in the original post. What's the deal?

All that said, I think LeBron James could win a dunk contest. I believe I would have been more interested to see him compete as a 23 or 24 year old though. If he pushed himself to attempt a free throw line dunk with a twist (fully behind the line and with more flare than Ibaka, or double pumped) I would have appreciated his appearance. But if he were to have entered only to complete the types of dunks seen in the Phoenix practice video, I probably would have been a little resentful of his victory, since it'd seem to have been more about the passes and his name than the creativity of the dunks themselves.

# 4 emelki1968 @ 02/11/14 01:38 PM

He needs the attention, that is all. I honestly don't think thoses dunks are that amazing. Most of them are the same type of dunk.It is just power, there is not elasticity, imagination, variety...
Now that everybody is posting the video (what a coincidence, a few days before the slum-dunk contest), can we please talk about dunkers with a little more imagination? Thank you.

# 5 lilteapot @ 02/11/14 01:44 PM

Nice dunks but we've seen these from him a million times and they wouldn't win a dunk contest. Also as long as it's judged by fan voting, nobody should want to do it as a matter of fact.

# 6 Vni @ 02/11/14 02:09 PM

Why people make this such a big deal?

# 7 CatMan72 @ 02/11/14 02:12 PM

LeBron doesn't skip the dunk contest because he's afraid of getting hurt... he skips it because he's afraid of getting beat by some relative nobody.

# 8 SteelersFreak @ 02/11/14 02:18 PM

These dunks are only impressive because of the passes to himself, passes which he wouldn't be able to do in the dunk contest because the dunk contest isn't held in a practice gym.

# 9 tbook24 @ 02/11/14 02:21 PM

not in the dunk contest = who cares. all of the GREAT ones did it.

# 10 scottyp180 @ 02/11/14 03:10 PM

I am probably in the minority here but I honestly believe that lebron hasn't entered a dunk contest because he is afraid of losing. He is a great dunker, especially in games, but I don't know if he is capable of doing something spectacular in the dunk contest. He does dunks with ease and force but you need creativity and finesse in a dunk contest to win. Whenever I see his warm up dunks I think "thats good but nothing that hasn't been done already". Recent winners like blake griffin, nate robinson, derozen, dwight howard, gerald green all put on a show and performed or attempted some dunks that we either never saw before, never saw in the nba before, or simply weren't expecting.

I don't see lebron being able to live up to the expectations and I think wade had a comment that alluded to this. If lebron entered the dunk contest and performed dunks like these we would be like "ohh...that's it?" He would need to pull some kind of vince carter type of display that blows our minds and anything short of that wouldn't be enough.

# 11 AlexBrady @ 02/11/14 03:58 PM

I've never liked the Dunk Contests or Three-Point Shootouts. The All Star Game hasn't been real competitive since 69. The whole weekend needs to be scrapped.

# 12 ggsimmonds @ 02/11/14 04:01 PM

To echo the thoughts of a few others, LeBron does not enter dunk contests because of insecurity.

LeBron would not fare as well as some would expect because he is a power dunker. That is great in games, but in a dunk contest flare and finesse usually win out. Look at the video, awesome power tomahawks but not particularly creative or flashy.

# 13 ProfessaPackMan @ 02/11/14 04:30 PM

Not sure I follow the whole he's afraid of losing theme that some are saying.

Like others have stated, he knows what he's doing and we go thru this every year. Non story/issue to me.

# 14 cavsfan2 @ 02/11/14 06:53 PM

Lebron would not lose the dunk contest. Don't forget the fans vote for the winner. Lebron would win just of the "OmG Lebron bE $o gud" crowd.

# 15 Ldot825 @ 02/11/14 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottyp180


	I am probably in the minority here but I honestly believe that lebron hasn't entered a dunk contest because he is afraid of losing. He is a great dunker, especially in games, but I don't know if he is capable of doing something spectacular in the dunk contest. He does dunks with ease and force but you need creativity and finesse in a dunk contest to win. Whenever I see his warm up dunks I think "thats good but nothing that hasn't been done already". Recent winners like blake griffin, nate robinson, derozen, dwight howard, gerald green all put on a show and performed or attempted some dunks that we either never saw before, never saw in the nba before, or simply weren't expecting. I don't see lebron being able to live up to the expectations and I think wade had a comment that alluded to this. If lebron entered the dunk contest and performed dunks like these we would be like "ohh...that's it?" He would need to pull some kind of vince carter type of display that blows our minds and anything short of that wouldn't be enough.

Amen, i agree completely....he doesnt like losing, hes a child with that, remember when he got dunked on, they didnt want the footage to be put out there...sad really. But im good with the days of old mj, nique , dee brown, VC even kobe wasnt afraid of cmpetition.

# 16 23 @ 02/12/14 12:55 AM

I think he made it hard on himself when he declared LeBron James is going to enter the dunk contest next year, then renegged on it for no reason.

Since then people have been on him.

# 17 TjJunior @ 02/12/14 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatMan72


	LeBron doesn't skip the dunk contest because he's afraid of getting hurt... he skips it because he's afraid of getting beat by some relative nobody.

Exactly what I think too. Its better with little to unknown players in my opinion. Creates more stars for a star driven industry.

# 18 The 24th Letter @ 02/12/14 08:54 AM

I think someone that has been in the NBA Finals 4 times and lost 2 has no 'fear of losing' a dunk contest

# 19 VDusen04 @ 02/12/14 10:14 AM

A real practice dunks video:

# 20 Fresh Tendrils @ 02/12/14 10:15 AM

I just people would stop hyping up everything the man does. They were going on about it during the OKC/Portland game last night and Webber was orgasming over LJ's dunk in the Phoenix game.

Personally, I'd rather see lesser known talents showcased during the All-Star weekend than getting blasted by the same familiar faces that we see the rest of the year.

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Sports Daily: LeBron Dunks, But Not For the Fans