Stephen A. Smith has built a career on provocative takes, but his latest one – blaming LeBron James for the decline of the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest – sparked backlash from an unexpected corner of the sports world. Enter Ryan Clark.

The former NFL Pro Bowler forcefully pushed back on the narrative that James is somehow responsible for the perceived dip in All-Star Weekend excitement. While Smith argued that LeBron’s long-standing refusal to participate in the Dunk Contest set a tone that other superstars followed, Clark dismissed the criticism entirely.

“Stop blaming LeBron for everything! No way he’s ruined ball the way some say he has. In fact, for 2 decades, he’s only elevated the NBA. Bout time y’all acknowledge that!” Clark wrote on X along with a video clip.

“He didn’t ruin the All-Star game or the dunk contest, & if he wants a farewell tour he’s earned it. Dude is going to retire sooner than later. An era will end, & the game will miss him!” Clark added.

The debate taps into a familiar media cycle: LeBron as both gravitational center and convenient scapegoat. But this time, the defense didn’t come from inside the NBA – it came from the NFL.

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In the video, he urges people to stop blaming LeBron James for everything. He believes that the Lakers’ veteran is at least one of the top three players of all time in the NBA. He wants people to show him more respect for what he has achieved in his career. Clark also argued that LeBron was part of some of the most competitive All-Star games in the early 2000s.

However, Stephen A. Smith doesn’t agree with the NFL legend Ryan Clark when it comes to All-Star games

What was Stephen A. Smith’s NBA All-Star criticism of LeBron James?

The 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend delivered the jolt the league desperately needed. With viewership for the All-Star Game jumping 87% compared to last season, the NBA’s gamble on a USA vs. World format paid off in a major way. Star power, competitive pride, and a clearer narrative framework gave fans a reason to tune in again.

From Michael Jordan to Vince Carter, and even the cultural resurgence sparked by Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon, the contest once felt like appointment viewing. This year, it didn’t.

None of the four participants entered with real star gravity, and without that built-in intrigue, the margin for error shrinks. Creativity has to compensate for a lack of name recognition. Instead, the performances felt solid but unspectacular, technically sound, yet lacking the kind of viral, culture-shifting moment that defines great dunk contests.

That contrast became even sharper when compared to the previous few years, when Mac McClung turned himself into must-watch theater. McClung’s run wasn’t just about execution; it was about audacity. He attacked the contest like it still mattered. This year’s field, fairly or not, never generated that same electricity.

Eventually, Miami Heat‘s Keshad Johnson won the Dunk Contest this year.

Following the event, Stephen A Smith shockingly blamed non-participant LeBron James for the Dunk Contest’s failure this year. “I’m going to blame LeBron James,” Smith said in his latest appearance on ‘First Take’. “Now, I’ve sat here for months, and I’ve applauded his greatness and all the things he has done, and he has meant to the NBA, but I’ve said it, and I’m going to be very consistent…The person who really is the provocateur to ruin the slam dunk contest is him.”

Smith’s criticism isn’t new. He has long argued that LeBron’s absence, despite his nightly in-game highlight dunks, helped erode the contest’s star appeal and set a tone for other elites to skip it. This echoes his recurring theme that LeBron’s refusal, especially after teasing participation in years like 2010, diminished the event’s cultural draw.

LeBron publicly suggested in 2009-2010 he’d enter the 2010 dunk contest in Dallas, telling Cheryl Miller he’d “put my name in,” but he didn’t participate, letting Nate Robinson win. This fueled backlash and Smith’s recurring narrative of LeBron diminishing the event.

LeBron has addressed the topic directly over the years, explaining his disinterest stems from a preference for spontaneous, game-context dunks over rehearsed ones. In 2004, he noted, “I’m the kind of person that loves dunking in the moment of the game. It seems kinda hard when I gotta think about dunking to enter the dunk contest.”

There’s no evidence that LeBron directly or indirectly had any hand in ruining the quality of the Dunk Contest. But Smith believes that LeBron not turning up for the event has been a bummer for the event and the fans.

“He was a superstar who put on a dunk contest every night in the layup line, particularly when he knew there was momentum swelling for him to participate, and he never did. He even teased that he was going to participate one year,” Smith added in his rant.

Overall, Smith believes that LeBron’s lack of interest in the Dunk Contest has allegedly led other superstars to avoid participating. The last competitive Dunk Contest in the league was when Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine went head-to-head with some jaw-dropping jams.

Gone are those days when we used to see two All-Star talents fighting it out. Apart from winner Keshad Johnson, the fourth-man field also had players like Los Angeles Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes, San Antonio Spurs’ Carter Bryant, and Orlando Magic’s Jase Richardson, the son of two-time Slam Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson, so it was simply a hard watch for the fans.