LeBron ruined the dunk contest

[beasted]

Being 100% serious here. :rant

It was this coward who made it "ok" being a weak-minded beta who dodges the dunk contest.

From all the predecessors before him Dr J to MJ to Kobe to Vince... It was known that even if a guy was on the superstar trajectory, as an up and coming star you joined the dunk contest just for fun.

Instead LeBron could never see it as something for fun, and thus looked at it as another potential failure to live up to the GOATs if he lost and instead chickened out.

Other guys look up to LeBron and it now makes it ok for Carmelo, Rose, Westbrook, PG13, Morant, Zion Williamson etc to not join the contest. LeBron ruined the next generation of great contestants. Shame.

[John_Connor]

never thought about this. lebron did invent the "protect your brand" stance... since then a ton of big name guys that were great dunkers have skipped the contest. zion being another one

this year ja morant. its definitely another reason lebron has lowered the integrity of the game and put it in a worse place than when kobe and mike left it


but his colluding/player empowerment is definitely #1 as far as his cancerous contributions to the game and its history


lebron will never be considered anywhere close to the goat because of this. his finals record is actually insignificant in comparison

[jayfan]

He ruined the all-star game, too.

Guys actually took the game somewhat seriously (like Giannis still does) until Lebron tainted it.

[8Ball]

Being 100% serious here. :rant

It was this coward who made it "ok" being a weak-minded beta who dodges the dunk contest.

From all the predecessors before him Dr J to MJ to Kobe to Vince... It was known that even if a guy was on the superstar trajectory, as an up and coming star you joined the dunk contest just for fun.

Instead LeBron could never see it as something for fun, and thus looked at it as another potential failure to live up to the GOATs if he lost and instead chickened out.

Other guys look up to LeBron and it now makes it ok for Carmelo, Rose, Westbrook, PG13, Morant, Zion Williamson etc to not join the contest. LeBron ruined the next generation of great contestants. Shame.

Nah.

Everyone has seen all the dunks so a 10/10 Jordan dunk today would get you 5/10.

Not worth his time.

[insight]

D Wade ruined the dunk contest with his crooked judging. The dunk contest was back but when you have Gordon dunking over the tallest player in the league but didn't win because of bias judging it taints the event.

[Gimmedarock]

Bron didn’t need the contest to build his brand. Maybe it was different back in the day but if I’m a young guy who’s got all the eyes on me,doing the contest isn’t needed. What if he lost? That wouldn’t be a good look. Let the young guys with who are nobody do the contest. Bron calls the shots and always has. That’s progress. The damn nba owners & commissioner doesn’t control him.

[nineiron]

Good points. OP is right

[RogueBorg]

Being 100% serious here. :rant

It was this coward who made it "ok" being a weak-minded beta who dodges the dunk contest.

From all the predecessors before him Dr J to MJ to Kobe to Vince... It was known that even if a guy was on the superstar trajectory, as an up and coming star you joined the dunk contest just for fun.

Instead LeBron could never see it as something for fun, and thus looked at it as another potential failure to live up to the GOATs if he lost and instead chickened out.

Other guys look up to LeBron and it now makes it ok for Carmelo, Rose, Westbrook, PG13, Morant, Zion Williamson etc to not join the contest. LeBron ruined the next generation of great contestants. Shame.

It's the same reason he ran from the ball the other night at the end of the game on the inbounds, he's scared, he's scared of the big moment. With the team down by one of two he's afraid of failing. He admitted as much back in 2012.

LeBron James: 'I'm afraid of failure'
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lebron-james-im-afraid-of-failure/#:~:text=Do%20you%20ever%20battle%20a,I%20become%2 0afraid%20of%20failing.

You're in a different era today. With social media and 24-hour sports-talk radio, every single game, even quarter, of yours is critiqued. That wasn't the case back in the day when MJ played.

I look at it like this: MJ wasn't perfect. MJ had bad games. He had turnovers. He had games where he felt like he should've been better. But I think the greatest thing about MJ was that he never was afraid to fail. And I think that's why he succeeded so much -- because he was never afraid of what anybody ever said about him. Never afraid to miss the game-winning shot, never afraid to turn the ball over. Never afraid. And that's what I love most about him besides, obviously, the flying through the air and the tongue-wagging and the game-winning jumpers and the shoes and the baggy shorts. I think his drive and never being afraid to fail is what made him, and he would be unbelievable still today because of that.

Do you ever battle a fear of failure?

That's one of my biggest obstacles. I'm afraid of failure. I want to succeed so bad that I become afraid of failing.

[beasted]

Bron didn’t need the contest to build his brand. Maybe it was different back in the day but if I’m a young guy who’s got all the eyes on me,doing the contest isn’t needed. What if he lost? That wouldn’t be a good look. Let the young guys with who are nobody do the contest. Bron calls the shots and always has. That’s progress. The damn nba owners & commissioner doesn’t control him.
Yes, this is beta mindset.

What if I get rejected by that woman? Might as well not try and go home to pornhub. :facepalm

It's for fun. You give it your best shot and try and give fans something entertaining to watch.

[beasted]

Paul George did the dunk competition but it was rigged and he got screwed, just like when the refs rigged Heat/Lebron over Pacers/George... multiple series

My bad, you're right on that one. Wasn't afraid to try twice at that.

[Wally450]

Guy that's never been in the dunk contest has somehow ruined it. Gotcha.

[Gimmedarock]

Yes, this is beta mindset.

What if I get rejected by that woman? Might as well not try and go home to pornhub. :facepalm

It's for fun. You give it your best shot and try and give fans something entertaining to watch.

So then there would be threads about “How come MJ won the dunk contest but Bron came in 2nd?” Dude can’t win. He wins rings but he didn’t stay with one team so the rings don’t count. Take that macho BS on and I’ll take the guy smart enough to make everything work & who redefined the system. Seems like Bron has more impact that a guy who did as he was told and sold Nike shoes.

[2much_knowledge]

He didnt ruined. And he was smart not to enter. He aint no dunk contest dunker.

See his 2003 dunk contest performance.... awful

[beasted]

He didnt ruined. And he was smart not to enter. He aint no dunk contest dunker.

See his 2003 dunk contest performance.... awful
https://youtu.be/jaD3P2lID98
This one? I thought he gave it a solid attempt. His 2nd and 3rd dunks were really good, especially for a high school player. No shame in a dunk contest unless you repeatedly miss open dunks.

Haters gonna hate regardless. Looks like he was enjoying himself out there.

[Street Hunger]

Which NBA superstar players are actual great dunkers that would be worthy of entering a dunk contest?

Which star player should have entered it but haven't?

[SATAN]

These kind of threads ruined this forum.

[2much_knowledge]

https://youtu.be/jaD3P2lID98
This one? I thought he gave it a solid attempt. His 2nd and 3rd dunks were really good, especially for a high school player. No shame in a dunk contest unless you repeatedly miss open dunks.

Haters gonna hate regardless. Looks like he was enjoying himself out there.


Im no hater, i was a dunker. A 6'8 guy with a 40+ vert should be able to do more than two windmills and two backboard dunks

[2much_knowledge]

Which NBA superstar players are actual great dunkers that would be worthy of entering a dunk contest?

Which star player should have entered it but haven't?

Only comes to mind allstars like Ja and Jaylen Brown.

But the best dunkers aint stars tho. I dont care for stars in the contest. Its game, not name

[SATAN]

Im no hater, i was a dunker. A 6'8 guy with a 40+ vert should be able to do more than two windmills and two backboard dunks

What are you talking about? There's footage of him doing between the legs, 360, ridiculous reverse dunks etc.

He clearly doesn't care about a dunking competition nor does he owe a bunch of haters anything at all.

[RogueBorg]

What are you talking about? There's footage of him doing between the legs, 360, ridiculous reverse dunks etc.

He clearly doesn't care about a dunking competition nor does he owe a bunch of haters anything at all.

https://c.tenor.com/DcK7aLXy7d0AAAAM/wissy-scaredy.gif

[beasted]

Im no hater, i was a dunker. A 6'8 guy with a 40+ vert should be able to do more than two windmills and two backboard dunks

Ok, but the point is he was having fun and clearly entertained the crowd with some of the dunks.

Just looking for players to not be scaredy cats.

[SATAN]

https://c.tenor.com/DcK7aLXy7d0AAAAM/wissy-scaredy.gif

6'8 and a half 250+ pound powerhouse LeBron James is scared of people like you.

Happy now?

[Jasper]

Most pro's are concerned about injury , and the dunk contest as well as the all-star games are their examples.

As far as dunk contest - i bet westbrook would have some awesome ones if he made his mind up to do it.

[WhiteKyrie]

Being 100% serious here. :rant

It was this coward who made it "ok" being a weak-minded beta who dodges the dunk contest.

From all the predecessors before him Dr J to MJ to Kobe to Vince... It was known that even if a guy was on the superstar trajectory, as an up and coming star you joined the dunk contest just for fun.

Instead LeBron could never see it as something for fun, and thus looked at it as another potential failure to live up to the GOATs if he lost and instead chickened out.

Other guys look up to LeBron and it now makes it ok for Carmelo, Rose, Westbrook, PG13, Morant, Zion Williamson etc to not join the contest. LeBron ruined the next generation of great contestants. Shame.
Agreed

[2much_knowledge]

What are you talking about? There's footage of him doing between the legs, 360, ridiculous reverse dunks etc.

He clearly doesn't care about a dunking competition nor does he owe a bunch of haters anything at all.

A super fan/nut hugger like yourself should know im taliking about the mcdonalds 2003 dunk contest duh.

You failed as a fan or reading comprehention

[bullettooth]

LeBron ruined competition and integrity, not the dunk contest.

However, the dunk contest, like the all-star game, has been a joke nearly every single year for the last 20 or so years.

[r15mohd]

Being 100% serious here. :rant

It was this coward who made it "ok" being a weak-minded beta who dodges the dunk contest.

From all the predecessors before him Dr J to MJ to Kobe to Vince... It was known that even if a guy was on the superstar trajectory, as an up and coming star you joined the dunk contest just for fun.

Instead LeBron could never see it as something for fun, and thus looked at it as another potential failure to live up to the GOATs if he lost and instead chickened out.

Other guys look up to LeBron and it now makes it ok for Carmelo, Rose, Westbrook, PG13, Morant, Zion Williamson etc to not join the contest. LeBron ruined the next generation of great contestants. Shame.

Magic...Bird...KD...Gran Hill (not sure?)...try again OP :rolleyes:

you all give way too much power to Lebron on everything NBA related lol

[RogueBorg]

6'8 and a half 250+ pound powerhouse LeBron James is scared of people like you.

Happy now?

You got me all wrong. Lebron's not afraid of me, he's afraid of competing and looking bad. And for a 6'-8" 250 supposed powerhouse, I've never seen someone so big so soft. He gets tossed around like a rag doll by smaller, weaker players.

"Afraid to fail," those are his words.

[Axe]

These bozos still melting down nonstop over a professional basketball player. Grow tf up. :oldlol:

[FireDavidKahn]

LeBron ruined competition and integrity, not the dunk contest.

However, the dunk contest, like the all-star game, has been a joke nearly every single year for the last 20 or so years.

The Lavine years were awesome dunk contests...

[Baller789]

Lebron didn't ruin it.

Fans are just disappointed he didn't join even once.

/Thread

[ClipperRevival]

Being 100% serious here. :rant

It was this coward who made it "ok" being a weak-minded beta who dodges the dunk contest.

From all the predecessors before him Dr J to MJ to Kobe to Vince... It was known that even if a guy was on the superstar trajectory, as an up and coming star you joined the dunk contest just for fun.

Instead LeBron could never see it as something for fun, and thus looked at it as another potential failure to live up to the GOATs if he lost and instead chickened out.

Other guys look up to LeBron and it now makes it ok for Carmelo, Rose, Westbrook, PG13, Morant, Zion Williamson etc to not join the contest. LeBron ruined the next generation of great contestants. Shame.

Truth.

Bron is the first superstar wing who was an athletic freak to skip it. Before that, it was expected that you HAD to participate. He set the precendece for bit*hing out. And now, it's the norm.

[ClipperRevival]

Bron didn’t need the contest to build his brand. Maybe it was different back in the day but if I’m a young guy who’s got all the eyes on me,doing the contest isn’t needed. What if he lost? That wouldn’t be a good look. Let the young guys with who are nobody do the contest. Bron calls the shots and always has. That’s progress. The damn nba owners & commissioner doesn’t control him.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This is the epitome of a beta.

Why compete? To show your greatness perhaps?

:facepalm