We’ve all been waiting to see it for almost a decade now, fans were teased more than once, but now LeBron James says we’ll never get to see him in a dunk contest. The Miami forward claims that the risk of getting injured is far too great for him to consider doing the competition, one that past legends such as Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have all competed, and won in.
“No,” said James, who turns 28 on Dec. 30. “It’s over with. I’m getting too old for that. … There were times when I wanted to do it. But I came into All-Star Weekend a few times banged up and I didn’t want to risk further injury.”
James was responding to defending champion Jeremy Evans from Utah who claimed that he would defeat James because he was just a “power dunker.”
“I’m going to say I would,” said Evans. “I haven’t seen any tricks from him yet because he hasn’t been in (an NBA) dunk contest. … You need the tricks and moves rather than just being a power dunker in a game.”
LeBron’s response? “I’m not a dunk-contest guy, so he probably could beat me in a dunk contest, I’m OK with that.”
