If people aren’t complaining about the All-Star Game, it most certainly will be the Slam Dunk contest they will be dunking on. Luckily, Mac McClung has provided life in the contest for the past three years. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the dunk contest has suffered a downfall. Former NBA player Ricky Davis believes the blame lies with 4-time NBA champion LeBron James.
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There was a period in time when people were claiming the three-point contest is the most entertaining event on All-Star Saturday night. At one point, it felt like a rite of passage between athletic superstars to compete in the dunk contest.
Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady all competed at least once. All signs pointed toward LeBron James being the next in line to carry on the tradition. Unfortunately, the four-time NBA champion didn’t participate.
Consequently, many believe James’ reluctance to do so set the tone for the next generation. Now, the NBA finds itself in quite a bind, trying to convince star-level talent to participate. Among the group of people who blame James, is his former teammate, Ricky Davis.
“Everybody’s scared of losing these days,” Davis said on the Out the Mud podcast. “LeBron was the first to stop.”
It doesn’t help that the league has reached a point where players are much more aware of their brand. A poor performance in the dunk contest could lead to fans trolling on social media, which is negative PR. Rather than risking being a laughing stock on the internet, many players would just pass altogether.
“It’s bad when you got the G-League guy coming up to win the dunk contest,” Davis proclaimed.
The 12-year veteran didn’t mean any disrespect to Mac McClung. His point is that McClung isn’t even on a standard NBA contract. It’s a shame there aren’t more players who have a serious approach like McClung.
To be fair to James, he doesn’t believe he’s a creative dunker, which has played a part in his reasoning behind forgoing the competition. Davis doesn’t think that even matters. Starpower holds more weight than people think.
“LeBron ain’t even got a lot of dunks. He might just win by doing anything,” Davis said.
Unfortunately, we will never know how James would truly perform. It won’t do fans any good to think about what-ifs. We can only have optimism that a young star can bring life back into the competition.
