LeBron is a one legged leaper, the dunk contest isn't a good fit for him

[aburre21]

Leaping off two legs is more aesthetically pleasing when doing creative/finesse(i.e windmills, etc.). Why don't some people see this? Those 360 windmill type dunks you want to see isn't LeBron's thing. Jumping off one leg is programmed into his DNA , he'd look awkward trying to do otherwise. Anyone who watches basketball knows this and wouldn't make a big deal about him not being in the dunk contest

[TheReal Kendall]

Leaping off two legs is more aesthetically pleasing when doing creative/finesse(i.e windmills, etc.). Why don't some people see this? Those 360 windmill type dunks you want to see isn't LeBron's thing. Jumping off one leg is programmed into his DNA , he'd look awkward trying to do otherwise. Anyone who watches basketball knows this and wouldn't make a big deal about him not being in the dunk contest

I'm sure he could do both. He's just not that creative. He's more of a power dunker

[moe94]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wkbjQn-Db4

Maybe it was the heat of the moment when I saw this shit live or how high the ball goes off the bounce with such little effort but this was great.

[aburre21]

I'm sure he could do both. He's just not that creative. He's more of a power dunker

Lebron is very uncomfortable when he's not jumping off of one leg with a head of steam. It's like when you do a layup, and you're jumping off the wrong leg(the one on the same side of the hand you're laying up with), it feels awkward because you were taught/programmed to do it a certain fundamental way. That's how LeBron is when he's dunking

[AnaheimLakers24]

boring dunker imo

[Solefade]

there's a lot of aesthetically pleasing dunks you can do off one leg, especially when you can go as high and far as lebron


with that said, he's a way better in-game dunker than i would imagine him to be in a dunk contest though

[Solefade]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wkbjQn-Db4

Maybe it was the heat of the moment when I saw this shit live or how high the ball goes off the bounce with such little effort but this was great.

[TheReal Kendall]

Lebron is very uncomfortable when he's not jumping off of one leg with a head of steam. It's like when you do a layup, and you're jumping off the wrong leg(the one on the same side of the hand you're laying up with), it feels awkward because you were taught/programmed to do it a certain fundamental way. That's how LeBron is when he's dunking

Do you know Lebron personally?

The reason I say he can do both is because I'm able to do both and he's way more athletic than me.

He's 6'8 and can jump out the gym. He's not in the dunk contest because he's not that creative and mostly a power dunker. There's been dunkers that jump off one leg that have won dunk contests before.

[TheReal Kendall]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wkbjQn-Db4

Maybe it was the heat of the moment when I saw this shit live or how high the ball goes off the bounce with such little effort but this was great.

That dunk right there was nice and he jumped off one leg without jumping his highest.

Just imagine if he was to do that in the dunk contest with his head over the rim. The crowd would go berserk

[aburre21]

Do you know Lebron personally?

The reason I say he can do both is because I'm able to do both and he's way more athletic than me.

He's 6'8 and can jump out the gym. He's not in the dunk contest because he's not that creative and mostly a power dunker. There's been dunkers that jump off one leg that have won dunk contests before.

Nah, it's just from watching him play. You can't watch the game and notice tendencies? . If you observed, you'd know




The best dunkers are two legged leapers. Think about all the guys you've seen that dunk. Which dunkers have the best looking dunks? Vince Carter, MJ, Dominique Wilkins, etc..


I never said he couldn't do some dunks, just that they wouldn't look as good as dunks performed by guys who are two legged jumpers

[TheReal Kendall]

Nah, it's just from watching him play. You can't watch the game and notice tendencies? . If you observed, you'd know




The best dunkers are two legged leapers. Think about all the guys you've seen that dunk. Which dunkers have the best looking dunks? Vince Carter, MJ, Dominique Wilkins, etc..


I never said he couldn't do some dunks, just that they wouldn't look as good as dunks performed by guys who are two legged jumpers

Wasn't Dr.J a legged dunker? Can't remember.

One of his and MJ's best dunks was from the free throw line off 1 leg.

I think it just depends on height and what dunks you pull off imo.

[CavaliersFTW]

Doctor J was a 'one legged leaper'.

Yet his dunks, layups, hell any finish above the rim routinely look 10x more amazing than anything Lebron does.

In short, there's a lot more to dunking, style, and finishing aesthetics than which leg you leap off of OP. I would wager how many legs you leap off of is probably one of the least important aspects of winning a dunk contest. The judges don't care what your legs looked like coming off the ground, they care about what you did in the air.

[Rake2204]

Nah, it's just from watching him play. You can't watch the game and notice tendencies? . If you observed, you'd know




The best dunkers are two legged leapers. Think about all the guys you've seen that dunk. Which dunkers have the best looking dunks? Vince Carter, MJ, Dominique Wilkins, etc..


I never said he couldn't do some dunks, just that they wouldn't look as good as dunks performed by guys who are two legged jumpers

I think Michael Jordan was actually a solid mix of both a one- and two-foot leaper. His Kiss The Rim dunk came off two feet, but then his free throw line dunk came off one. I might even lean toward Jordan being more of a one-footed dunk contest dunker. He did a one hand pump reverse (where he almost hit his head on the rim) off one foot, the rock the cradle off of one, and obviously, the free throw line dunk.

LeBron James surely has two foot capabilities (there's video of him clockwise 360-ing off of two and whatnot) but I agree he seems most comfortable leaping off one. I think a younger LeBron James could have had the potential to bring something interesting to the contest (say, a more stylized Ibaka behind-the-free-throw-line dunk) but if he just entered so he could do the standard dunks he performed in his high school contest (albeit while jumping very high), my interest may have waned.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

I thought one legged jumpers are more common in the NBA? It's why I remember people specifically pointing out Richardson's two feet jumping in his contests.

James White is a one legged jumper, tho. Guys like MJ and Vince did both often.

[Rake2204]

I thought one legged jumpers are more common in the NBA? It's why I remember people specifically pointing out Richardson's two feet jumping in his contests.

James White is a one legged jumper, tho. Guys like MJ and Vince did both often.

I think most players are a solid mix of both, but with a preference toward one or the other. Like you said, Vince Carter could jump off both legs, but he seemed to prefer dunking off two when possible.

I think the rarity is when a player seems to skew almost entirely in one direction or the other. James White seemed to be an almost exclusive one-footed in his dunk attempts. Meanwhile, Jason Richardson was almost exclusively two-footed. Richardson could dunk off one foot, he just looked like a fish out of water when doing so.

This is what Jason Richardson looked like when he was forced to attempt to jump from the free throw line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTM5u-Iu-x0#t=6m5s