If you have been following the NBA in the past few years you should be familiar with the NBA Lockout that lasted until December 25, 2011. Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose, Chris Bosh, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have all recently signed long-term contracts with only OKC & Chicago keeping their star players. Revenue sharing was also a major issue this year in negotiations between the players and owners during the lockout. With a quarter of the season being non-existent, having to get into shape and still playing 82 games is a tough task. Many players and even superstars were unhappy with the lockout and spoke to the media about their frustrations.
After the All-Star break NBA teams will have to face one of the most grueling schedules seen in recent years, especially with out being able to have a pre-season period, most importantly for newly assembled teams.
Lets be clear the 2012 slam dunk contest was the worst NBA Slam Dunk contest that I've EVER seen! My first memory of an NBA Slam Dunk Contest was when Michael Jordan jumped from the foul line against Dominiques Two-Hand Windmill. Don't get me wrong I love the underdog story. Jeremy Evans, Jeremy Lin ... Jeremy Shannon, catching on yet? I also got a chance to meet Jeremy Evans and see his ability to do many different dunks during my time at ATTACK Athletics in Summer 10'. He got a call from Utah saying they would like t draft him and now look what he has done. Great story, congrats to him. I never go to see that two handed alley oop over a teammate. It was definitely a great dunk but overall the contest was really boring with a lot of stunts, advertising and some embarrassing moments for the NBA during the contest. Anyway, my point is I think the players as well as some of us fans are frustrated with the over saturation of brand advertising during these events. For players like Jeremy Evans, Paul George, Derrick Williams and Chase Budinger this is a great opportunity but for Lebron James, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose it is endorsement. Supposedly, Lebron said he would participate if there was a 1 million dollar reward. The game is commercialized, thats no secret so why get mad at these players when they don't participate in a Lockout All-Star Break Season heading into the playoffs with uncomfortable business negotiation predicament? I just hope they can work something out and get at least two superstars in next year's contest because there is too much talent in the NBA for a legend like Reggie Miller (w/o a history of dunking) to have to say "I mean, just lay it up at this point" on national television during THE NBA Slam Dunk Contest to a contest who rode in on a motorcycle just isn't ... LEGENDARY!
C'mon Son!
C'mon Son!
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