NBAThey Said What?

It’s Your Fault LeBron James Might Not Dunk Before Games Anymore

LeBron James’ pre-game dunkfest has become a sensationalized thing. But it’s more of a tease than anything else, flirting with what could but won’t be. The dunk contest, at this point, is the only thing LeBron James holds over us. He’s universally recognized as the league’s best player and he’s won a championship. There’s not much left for him to do, other than pile on more of the same for a number of years going forward. But after last night’s Miami-Sacramento game, he threatened to cast aside this glimpse on a whim. But why?

“‘Maybe I should stop because it’s making a lot of people mad about what I do,’” James said after he scored a season-high 40 points and had a career-high 16 assists in Tuesday’s double-overtime win against Sacramento. ‘They’re like, ‘Well, if you can do it in warm-ups, why don’t you [want to] be in the dunk contest?’ Stop it.’

Maybe LeBron’s Cleveland-Miami switch heightened his sensitivity to criticism, or his ability to manufacture it. Because it seems he’s confusing this backlash with mild disappointment – no one really cares about the dunk contest, but if it’s going to continue to exist, we might as well lobby for the best. And that’s LeBron James. Except now he’s whining about our mild whining, which comes off as even more whiny. So, stop whining. You can afford a dunk or two, here or there. Like this:

[ESPN]