There is a alarming trend of individualism in modern sports. This trend is made all the more obvious by the recent news that Cleveland Cavaliers Forward LeBron James will not participate in the 2010 All Star Dunk Contest as stated at last year's all-star festivities.

One look at the rosters for the all-star teams and the dunk contest sheds light on this phenomenon. The All-Stars will most likely include NBA superstars such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Dwanye Wade, Chris Paul, etc. Headlining the dunk contest are the (not so) superstars of Shannon Brown, Gerald Wallace, Nate Robinson and either DeMar DeRozan or Eric Gordon. No Kobe, LeBron or even Dwight Howard.

Granted, Nate Robinson has become a staple of the dunk contest in the past couple of years. However one dunking little dude has proven not enough to save the ratings. During the era of Michael Jordan and Dominque Wilkins (pictured) the NBA Dunk Contest drew 12 million television viewers. Since then the ratings have slid to less than half.

Cleveland Cavaliers Center Shaquille O'Neal has even jumped on the bandwagon. ESPN and the associated press reported that Shaq urged NBA superstars LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter to participate in the dunk contest and donate their winnings to the victims of Haiti. When asked how the plan would go down Shaq said "Tweet it. Facebook it. E-mail it and hopefully it gets out. Vince, we're calling you out. Kobe, we're calling you out. We're calling everybody out. If those guys step up in the dunk contest, then I will allow my client to step up."

No long is it considered honorable to attend the dunk contest and represent your team. Similar situations have occurred in Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby and even Team USA sports teams sent to international competition.

Apparently the days of Jordan and Dominque are long gong.