nbaoffseason:

People, well, some people are upset and disappointed that one of the Association’s premiere dunkers, let alone, players, LeBron James has passed on competing in this year’s slam dunk contest. Why should be upset about this? It’s not an issue of the contest being beneath James because Michael Jordan did the slam dunk and won it twice. It’s a matter of LeBron James losing to somebody else. Remember all that hoopla last summer over the missing footage of that kid dunking on James during a summer camp. The tape became a mythical piece of lore that when unearthed by TMZ, it was rather lackluster. There was no holy grail, it was just some kid getting lucky on a demi god. Did we think less of James as a player? No. Did we think less of James as a person? Maybe.

Well, I did.

I know that I’m in the vast minority here, but I’m not a James fan. I respect his skills and his effort and he will probably go down as one of the greatest players of all time, if not the greatest. But, I think he’s a big asshole. He’s an asshole that can’t bear to be challenged and potentially upstaged by somebody like a DeMar DeRozan in a dunk contest.

If LeBron James has the time to dance along the bench after a Delonte West makes a basket, then he has time to be in a slam dunk contest. LeBron James needs to be in the slam dunk contest to make All Star weekend relevant again. Remember when it was a big thing? Remember when it was on network television? Granted, TNT does a better job of covering the event than ABC/ESPN ever has/will, but the All Star game needs to return to prime time network television.

So, LeBron James suck it up and do the slam dunk contest. Help the Association out. And if you’re so keen on dancing, you could incorporate one of those crews from “America’s Best Dance Crew” into a dunk and have Lil’ Mama randomly stand on the court after the jam. It’s a win-win situation, James.

Also, LeBron James should not go to the Clippers in the off season. He’ll play second banana to Kobe Bryant in the Ciudad.

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)