When it comes to the Slam Dunk Contest, LeBron James is full of it.
“I am more of an in-game dunker”, he says. “I am too old to be in the dunk contest”, he says. “Why don’t you take a poll and see if you think I have more to lose than gain?”, he asks.
And then ever-so-casually during pregame warm ups, he goes and does this:
Not creative enough to entertain the crowd? I don’t buy it for a second.
Moving onto more important matters around the league:
Andrew Bynum is active, but not to be expected back in action any time soon, from Jason Wolf of USA Today: “Injured 76ers center Andrew Bynum participated in his first 5-on-5 practice of the season Friday, but isn’t close to making his season debut, Sixers coach Doug Collins said Saturday before Philadelphia played the Miami Heat. “He looked like a guy who had not played in nine months,” Collins said. “I think he felt good that he was able to get out there. But I don’t think that any bells and whistles should be set off right now that he’s close to playing.”… “I talked to him today,” Collins said, “and he’s got weight he’s got to lose, and the problem we have is we’ve got six games in nine days. There’s no practice. So it’s not like he’s going to be able to get out and practice with us, because we’re not going to have any practice.”
Kenyon Martin opened up about the frustrations of not receiving a call from any team in the league. He also wants to change people’s perception of him, from Ian Begley of ESPN New York: “It was a daily struggle … I went through every emotion early in the season. Mad, sad, upset, frustrated, you name it, I went through it. It just got to a point where I couldn’t let that consume my daily thoughts,” Martin said. “I wanted to play.”… On Saturday, Martin said the idea that he’s a divisive force is a “misconception.” “I’m here to change all that,” Martin said. “I’m here to change people’s perception about me and if it’s a 10-day (contract) or if it’s for the rest of the season, whatever it is, I’m here to do that.”… “Once people around here get to know me and know who I am, and know who I am in my heart and know what I’m about, that changes people’s perception about me as a whole,” he said.”