Lebron James has, surprisingly, never participated in the NBA’s slam dunk competition. One fan is hoping to change that by crowdfunding $1 million to donate to the King’s charity if he participates this year.
James entered the NBA in 2003 and quickly became one of the league’s most popular players.
In 2010, James made what became known as “The Decision,” in which he chose to sign with the Miami Heat as a free agent following a nationally televised reveal.
Last year James told CBS Sports:
“I’m not a dunk contest type of guy. I’m an in-game dunker. I kind of improvise during the game.”
When asked if he’d do it for $1 million James replied:
“Then I’d reconsider. Wouldn’t you?”
According to Mashable , one fan has taken Lebron James seriously. Chris Thomas has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise $1 million to persuade James to dunk. The money would go to the LeBron James Family Foundation.
Thomas spoke with Mashable about his campaign. He tells the blog why he chose crowdfunding:
“I started thinking about how to execute the idea. Prior to a few years ago, a mechanism to do something like this didn’t even exist.”
With the growth of crowdfunding sites over the last few years, Thomas says the choice was easy. His campaign has started slowly though. To date, he has only raised $2,500, but he remains optimistic:
“We’ll raise as much as possible, whether that’s $50,000, $500,000 or $5 million. Whatever aggregate amount is raised, I’ll contact the foundation and anyone else associated with LeBron, say ‘take or leave it’ and see what happens.”
To check out Thomas’ campaign page, you can go to gofundme.com/helplebrondunk.
As one of the NBA’s more enthusiastic athletes, perhaps James would participate in the slam dunk competition for a good cause. Last week, the star bear-hugged a fan after making a half court shot for $75,000.
Would you like to see Lebron James participate in the slam dunk competition?
[image via Domenic Gareri / Shutterstock.com ]
