December 4 th LeBron James May Not Enter Dunk Contest

Earlier today, news broke that Orlando’s Dwight Howard would not be entering this year’s slam dunk contest. While the excitement over a seven-footer dunking can be debated, there is no denying Howard’s ability to put on a show over the years. This news, however, comes about 24 hours after LeBron James has officially listed his probability to enter this year’s contest at 50/50.

And this announcement comes almost one year after James got the world salivating with his proclamation that he would consider giving the dunk contest something that it hasn’t had in quite a while – top flight superstars – taking things back to the day of Jordan vs. ‘Nique.

But why taper back expectations now? Partly because that’s what James does. There is no doubt that he was playing to the All-Star crowd last season when he mentioned that he would consider joining the 2010 class. The rest of it falls back on the fact that James would have very little to gain by taking part.

The fact of the matter is that the Slam Dunk contest has turned into gimmicks.

“I don’t know if you can get it back to the 80s and like in ‘98 when Vince (Carter) was in it,” said James. ”It was more about the dunks and less about what was going on around the dunks. We’ll see what happens.”

Attempt to forget that the Vince Carter year was 2000. A historian, James was not – at least for one night.

Matt Moore at the FanHouse feels that James should stick to his earlier word, based on a handful of PR faux pas that have occurred over the last year. Not shaking hands at the end of last post season, the Nike-Jordan Crawford episode, and the latest “Retire 23″ movement have grown tiring on many fans of the NBA. Is participating in the dunk contest enough to rectify any ill perception? James rarely participates in something that he won’t dominate, from the game of basketball to business ventures.

Now, if Dwyane Wade is going to jump in it with him, we would be talking a pretty big ticket. But superstars simply do not enter the contest any longer. Nate Robinson has done some pretty spectacular things in the dunk contest. As has Gerald Green. But if James were to win the contest, does he really “win?” And if he were to lose to someone of Robinson’s ilk, look out