I guess I shouldn’t have really expected anything special. Presenting your Dunk Contest participants.. Gerald Wallace, Demar Derozan, Shannon Brown, and Nate Robinson. Before I bash my favorite part of All-Star Weekend, I’ll start with the positives. Shannon Brown is a pretty special dunker, Demar Derozan has potential, and Nate Robinson reminds me of Spud Webb the way he can elevate.

Now, time to be blatently honest. This was the most pathetic excuse for a dunk contest the NBA has provided us fans in quite some time. Let’s start with Gerald Wallace. Gerald, your 1st round dunks were by far the most disappointing. You basically showed up with no plan, and did the most un-original dunks imaginable. Thanks for coming out, and please don’t come back next year. Ex-Cavalier Shannon Brown was the other partcipant knocked out in the 1st round. In my opinion, Shannon Brown had all the potential in the world to win the contest this year. While he received low scores for his two not-so creative dunks, and didn’t make it out of the first round, I thought his 1st dunk where he switched hands last second was pretty cool. Apparently the judges didn’t think so.

Demar Derozan almost stole the show, and his dunk off the side of the backboard was pretty much the highlight of the contest. It was the only dunk the crowd really got up for, and his hangtime and ability to throw down a ferocious windmill was pretty spectacular. Demar made it to the finals, but his two final dunks were pretty weak. Better luck next time.

Nate Robinson more or less won the Dunk Contest by default. A 2-time Contest Champion, the vertically-challenged Robinson yet again wowed the crowd with his ability to jump out of the building. His last dunk off the backboard which he double-pumped and reverse-jammed was moderately impressive, if only for the fact that he jumps so high being so short. Nate, you’re a pretty good dunker. Congratulations on being the first 3-time Dunk Contest Champion, and winning the most un-exciting Dunk Contest in recent memory.

Dear LeBron, with all due respect, please just Man-Up already. You got everybody’s hopes up last year when you announced you would participate this year, and then when push came to shove you backed out. You are clearly the most exciting dunker in the league, and this would be the perfect event to showcase that. Not only do the fan’s want to see you crush the competition, the NBA needs you to at least do one Dunk Contest. What used to be the most exciting part of All-Star weekend has been reduced to the most pathetic excuse for entertainment the NBA could imagine. LeBron James’ athletic ability could single-handedly revive the contest, and if he agreed to dunk there would be other stars who would come out as well. Imagine a Dunk Contest with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Dwayne Wade. LeBron, now more than ever, the NBA dunk contest needs you. LeBron James is underrated

http://lebronunderrated.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-dunk-contest-needs-lebron-james.html

This was the best All-Star game the NBA could have hoped for. Coming off the uber-disappointing Dunk Contest That Wasn’t, they needed this game to live up to its hype. It might have been ever better than was advertised, and while Dwayne Wade stole the MVP, LeBron most definitely stole the show. A close game all the way to the finish, this had the makings of a classic.

LeBron James was a one-man wrecking crew. He and Wade were on the same page, and King James brought the crowd to their feet on multiple occasions with his thunderous dunk-nasties. If you missed this game, you truly missed one of the most entertaining performances LeBron James has ever put on. Insane reverse alley-oop jams were abundant, as was the scour on Tim Duncan’s face when LeBron seemingly triple-pumped a dunk that will never be duplicated again.

For these reasons, I understand why LeBron didn’t partcipate in this years Dunk Contest. The All-Star game is this superstar’s version of the contest. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. LeBron showed us why he is the best basketball player on planet Earth, and all Kobe could do was sit sheepishly in his seat as Bron schooled the entire Western All-Star team. Sorry Kobe, LeBron’s All-Star performance yet again proves why you will never compare to the King. Enjoy sitting out some more games, especially as the Lakers (4-game win streak) play better without your demand-the-ball and shoot when you want strategy. LeBron was the real MVP of this game. LeBron James is underrated

http://www.LeBronJamesIsUnderrated.com