LeBron James Says He Intended to Enter Slam Dunk Contest in Previous Years

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James said Saturday he considered taking part in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend a couple times throughout his career, but injuries ultimately prevented him from participating in the event.

Chris Haynes of ESPN relayed the comments from James, who noted the 2006 contest in Houston was one time he seriously thought about joining the competition.

In 2012, he told Fox Sports Florida (via Cleveland.com) while with the Miami Heat that the time had passed for him to take center stage in the previously star-studded competition.

"It's over with. I'm getting too old for that," James said. "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."

The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player said three years later he regretted not taking part in the Dunk Contest during his younger days.

"When I first came into the league, I expected that I would do it," he told reporters. "I did. I did for sure. But it just never happened. I don't know why. There was times when I wanted to do it and didn't do it and there was times when I just didn't really care about it too much. But it definitely would have been pretty cool to do."

LeBron James with the big dunk

Gone are the days when some of the league's biggest stars would put their high-flying ability on display against each other. For example, the 1985 group included Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler and eventual champion Dominique Wilkins as part of an eight-player field.

The 2018 competitors are Victor Oladipo, Donovan Mitchell, Dennis Smith Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. Now, while that's actually a pretty strong group of dunkers, it's not exactly a who's who of NBA royalty.

Although the NBA would welcome LeBron to the proceedings with open arms in the future, the fact he usually talks about the Dunk Contest in the past tense suggests it's not going to happen as part of his Hall of Fame career.