LeBron: Dunk Contest Needs to Be 'Cleaned Up'

LeBron James made arguably the biggest noise of the entire All Star Weekend during the dunk contest when he told Cheryl Miller that he was "preliminarily" committing to the 2010 Dunk Contest in Dallas. He followed that up the next day by throwing down an absolutely Earth-shattering, off-the-backboard yimyam that got everyone thinking about the future possibilities.

And, lest you think he was bluffing, he confirmed his early entrance to the contest while explaining that the whole process needs to be "cleaned up."

"It's got to be cleaned up, they have to go back to maybe the '80s with [Michael Jordan] and Dominique [Wilkins]," James said. "You can't have so many chances at dunking the basketball. The whole anticipation of a dunk contest is one or two tries and that's it. If not you get (a score of) 30 or 35. Guys are getting 10 opportunities to do the same dunk, by the time they complete it, it is like ... 'OK, we've seen it.'"

I couldn't agree more, frankly. While it's almost never possible to have every dunk go smoothly on the first try, limiting contestants to one or two attempts is a vastly superior solution to letting Pau Gasol try his behind-the-back flip pass to Rudy Fernandez 40 times. Or watching Nate Robinson awkwardly win (in 2006) after attempting his dunk approximately 452 times before actually hitting it.

James went on to elaborate on his entry, stating that as of right now "I am going to be in it" and taking some prelim steps to entice other "big name" contestants by making sure we know he will "get a few guys." Yes, it's a little early to get too enthusiastic, because plenty of things could derail the 2010 contest. But as of right now, there's no reason to think that it won't be the best one we've seen in 20 some years, "cleaned up" or not.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-18-2009 @ 8:50PM

tyrekyoung said...

The reason why Howard lost the slam dunk contest and so many others before hims like A. I. is because they did there best dunk in the first round and had nothing else. Howard should have kept the 12 foot rim for his final two dunks. I am glad that lebron will enter the contest next year and convince other big name players to compete. I want Lebron to win it because he deserves it and not because of his popularity in the league

He is going to crush poor little Nate

2-19-2009 @ 5:08AM

Edgar said...

I hope Lebroid James (the King) will not aspire for this crazy competition next year because there's not any breathtaking dunks now as it was during the time of MJ. All are they showing are the same crap that deteriorate every year. Basketball was created basically to shoot not slamming the ball. So if nobody can create any new spectacular one, we don't need to see this sideshow. Period.

2-19-2009 @ 4:48PM

DeeJay said...

If you don't like it, don't watch it. "Period" And were you actually alive when Basketball was all shooting? If so it explains your lack of enthusiasm for the dunk contest. It also explains your Viagra prescription.... At any rate I look forward to LeBron's entry next year. A clean-up is needed as he said, lets see it!

2-19-2009 @ 6:37PM

cantstopdrinkin said...

Yes a clean up would help but the main problem is pretty obvious and has been. Why do you think the dunk contests were so exciting with MJ, Dom, and Dr. J, just look at those names! Its mostly been a bunch of 2nd and 3rd level players instead of the elite. Howard gets in the year before last (finally a star gettin in again) and it blows back up... hmmm why do you think that happened? Like Lebron is saying the big names need to be in it. There is nothing like seeing 2 superstars make it to the finals and go one on one against each other. Who the hell cares if 2 almost no bodies are doing it, then your JUST watching for the dunks - when their are superstars your watching to see them and for the dunks and the personalities. But i mean its not a secret EVERYONE has wanted Lebron to....

2-19-2009 @ 8:53PM

It just dawned on me what Lebron was referring to when he said that the slam dunk contest needs to be cleaned up and brought back to the days of Michael and Dominique. Lebron is saying that we need to bring the ALL Star contests back to when ALL Stars competed. Some of these guys that compete in the competion are not even known and should not be on the stage with all stars. thats what I think that he wanted to say