LeBron James ' critics blame him for the decline of the Dunk Contest because he never joined the competition. Because LeBron never entered the contest, it gave the likes of Zion Williamson , Ja Morant , and Anthony Edwards an excuse to skip the event, too.
But for Kevin Garnett , James did not just ruin the dunk contest; he messed up the entire All-Star tradition by not taking on Kobe Bryant 's challenge in the 2012 edition of the league's midseason classic.
"He fu—d the whole tradition up," said Garnett. "When Kob slapped the floor and told that ni—a 'Brother, let's go one-on-one' and he passed it, he fu—d up the whole tradition."
Garnett was talking about the final 16.3 seconds of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando, where Kobe dared LeBron to win the game for the Eastern Conference team by going mano-a-mano with him, with the West up 151-149.
But instead of taking the game-winning 3-point shot or tying the game with a two-pointer, LeBron opted to pass to Deron Williams , who air-balled the potential game-winner.
LeBron had a second chance to win when Wade tapped the ball back to Williams, who in turn passed it back to James with 5.8 seconds left. But again, LeBron dribbled right into Kobe's defense and then tried a cross-court pass to D-Wade that got intercepted by Blake Griffin . The West won, but the bigger story was that the East never got to get the last shot off.
"Don't nobody want to hear this. I'm one of them gatekeepers, I can say this. Everybody went at it, bro. He slap the floor on you, you supposed to nail his a– with a thee, boom! Y'all supposed to go right there. Lord didn't want none of that motion, swung that bi—h here… That's why Mamba was like, 'Nah, you don't want this,' talking crazy. I hate to get to this, but that's what really happened. And ever since then, we've been off the trajectory," KG added.
Later that month, James was asked by Cleveland.com about the end of the game. James focused on the second chance. He admitted that Bryant was egging him to shoot the 3-pointer , but he saw Wade open at the corner and tried to flick a pass. He accepted blame and said he let his team down.
"Yeah, he was telling me to shoot it," LeBron said . "I [saw] my teammate open for a split second, I told him I [saw] him open for the first time and I didn't release the ball. When I [try] to throw it late, that's usually what happens and it results in a turnover. Definitely, wish I could have had that one back."
However, LeBon admitting blame was one thing, but that's not how it's supposed to be in an All-Star Game. The games are about entertainment and giving the fans their money's worth. It's not about making the right basketball play. What made it more disappointing was that Bron was 15-23 from the floor in that game, including 6-8 from 3-point distance during that game.
He was brilliant, well, that was until it mattered most.
The 2013 All-Star Game was the last time it had at least 8 million viewers. The number has plummeted, with 2023 registering the worst numbers at 4.59 million. It bounced back with a 5.4 million viewership in 2024 but dropped to 4.7 million again last year.
This year, the NBA is trying out another format, hoping to restore the game's luster. However, it's unclear if it's still fixable with LeBron still choosing to do things' the right way' - his way, every day, in Year 23.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
