Dunk Contest Without Lebron? Shocker.

So news just recently broke that the 2010 Slam Dunk Contest will be without the likes of Lebron James. Instead it will include the likes of Nate Robinson (Defending Champ), Gerald Wallace, Shannon Brown, and either Demar Derozan or Eric Gordon. Yes I was as disappointed as the next guy when i heard that Lebron's name was not a part of this list. Not because I was simply hoping to see "The King" jump through the roof at the annual flight fest that will be held in Dallas this year but if I remember correctly, because he said he would.

At last year's festivities Cheryl Miller interviewed Lebron during the dunk finals between Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson. To quote King James when asked if he would participate in the 2010 slam off, "Right now i'm preliminary putting my name in the 2010 Dunk Contest". The statement was enough to override the bad english. Fans acrosss the nation anticipated February of 2010 just to watch the king take flight. But then came the list. "Where's Lebron's name?" "There must be a mistake." No my friends, Lebron has backed out and we are once again stuck to a dunk contest full of roll players (albeit extremely talented).

So that leaves me scratching my head and asking myself the same question once again. What ever happened to the glory days when superstars gave us an incredible showing? Back when the Saturday night was filled with the likes of the Jordans' and Wilkins' and even the Carters' of the world exploding through the air. Now we resort to Gerald Wallace? No disrespect to Gerald, but that is a huge drop off.  Where are the superstars? They couldn't quite be afraid of losing a competition to role players could they? Absolutely yes.

Don't let their explanations about trying to save everything else for the rest of the season fool you. These guys are just scared. Flat out. Lebron had a chance to change all of that but ended up backing down from his words. These guys are afraid that losing to lower competition might hurt their image in the public eye. Possibly true, but in the case of Lebron it isn't. You see, Lebron is what you would call a Media Darling. The public is in love with him, which means he can show a very average display at the dunk contest and chances are he'll still walk away with the trophy. Knowing this, Lebron should have jumped all over the opportunity to help pull in the rest of his star studded court mates and bring the dunk contest back to a glimpse of what it once was. Instead, we'll just be settling for average. Way to go Lebron. Great appreciation to all the kids dawning your number 23 jersey. Public Enemy said it best folks, Don't Believe the Hype.