There are quite a few sport stars featured in the new Nike ad, but none of them are as high profile as LeBron James, and none of them are teasing the world, or at least those who care about NBA basketball, with the prospect of actually participating in the All-Star weekend dunk contest.

So wee see Gerard Pique, Serena Williams and Andre Ward. But everything leads to one thing. LeBron James spinning the ball on his finger, and then going for the dunk. How do we know it’s the dunk contest? We see the rack of balls for the three point shots, and than James going for a dunk he has pulled off a few times in warm up last season before the hype got a little bit too big, and he decided it wasn’t nice teasing everyone with something he’ll never get to do.

Dunk contests disappoint because they lack star power. An end-of-the-bench player pulling off the between the legs, off the backboard dunk? Maybe a 50 on the scoreboard, but very little excitement. LeBron James doing it? You can already imagine the stadium exploding, and Twitter-Facebook-Reddit and whatever social media platform you prefer going into the next stratosphere with excitement, re-posting and circle-jerking.

Will James ever take part in the dunk contest? Hard to imagine. Stars just don’t do it, or at least not more than once. In recent years we have seen Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin participate, but it seems that the moment a player moves from the phase of the exciting rookie to the serious player who is out there to win NBA titles, the appeal of the dunk contest disappears, leaving it barren and devoid of big-name players.

Maybe it’s too early to determine, but James will probably never take part in the dunk contest. Ego has something to do with it, even after winning everything and getting rid of all the question marks surrounding him throughout his career. The chance of not doing too well in such an event becomes an unappealing prospect, especially in this day of age, where Instagram and Vine videos rule.

The dunk contest will get some big name or exciting rookie to revive it once every few years, but the hope of seeing the NBA’s biggest star and one of the most recognizable faces in the world is a false one. LeBron James has bigger fish to fry, and the best he can give those wanting to see him preform some exhibition dunk is to keep up with what he does during warm ups, or simply re-watch the Nike commercial.

Image: Source