The 2024 All-Star Weekend is right around the corner as the biggest NBA stars gather in Indianapolis and gear up to battle it out in an array of competitions. One such event is the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest which is scheduled for the 17th of February at the Lucas Oil Stadium. This year, the participants for the event are Jaylen Brown, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Mac McClung, and Jacob Toppin. As usual, the superstars have sat out this coveted contest.

Regretfully, NBA fans have never seen one of the league’s best players, LeBron James participate in this competition. While he is not obligated to do so, the fact that he has never stepped up for this event is astonishing and even more disappointing. The Lakers superstar has a high influence in the sport and his not taking part in the contest has let it die out. This is exactly what rapper Ma$e points out.

Other stars don’t want to do it because LeBron isn’t doing it

The host of the It Is What It Is show, Ma$e blames King James for letting the popularity of the Slam Dunk Contest diminish. He asserts, “Bron messed the Dunk Contest up.” The 48-year-old rapper says this in reply to co-host Cam’ron stating, “With LeBron never doing it, it let other athletes say, ‘I don’t have to do it. He’s not doing it why would I do it?‘” During the 1990s and 2000s, the contest was at its peak, with the best of the best battling it out to take the win.

Unfortunately, the hype around it has now died down, and they believe that it has a lot to do with LeBron not competing. If he were to put his name in, the other superstars would undoubtedly follow suit. Despite this, Cam’ron credits LeBron for executing Dunk Contest level dunks during games, especially highlighting the 2008 dunk he pulled from the free throw line against the Bucks. He was then playing for the Heat. However, LeBron had previously shattered all hopes of ever seeing him in the contest.

LeBron has already made himself clear on the matter

At 39 with 21 seasons in, it is truly surprising that LeBron has never even given a thought about the contest. However, his intentions were clear from an interview last year. The Akron Hammer had said, “I don’t think it was something I wanted to accomplish in my career; it’s not a goal of mine and it never was coming into the NBA to be a part of the Dunk Contest, you know?”

Instead, Bron had prioritized achieving other feats like making it to the All-Star team, winning the MVP title, claiming the Championship, or winning Defensive Player of the Year. “THOSE were some goals of mine. The NBA Dunk Contest was NEVER a goal of mine so, it wasn’t something that I had too much passion for,” he added. Well, we are likely never to see him slam some dunks in the contest and we’ll have to come to terms with it.

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Would LeBron would dominate the Slam Dunk Contest if he ever participated? Will he have the creativity to do something special? Let us know!