Dwight Howard declined invite to this year's Slam Dunk Contest

If you were hoping to see Dwight Howard renew his "Superman" dunk at this year's Slam Dunk Contest, you're out of luck unfortunately.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Howard was invited to participate in next month's competition, but he declined.

"Couldn't do it," Howard said. He would participate again, "If I wasn't so old. I'm getting up there in age, man, I tell you. I got a lot of years."

The seven-time All-Star said that although he declined the invitation, he had considered participating just because New Orleans was where he won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2008.

"It was a night to remember," Howard said. "It was probably one of the best memories of me being in the NBA being in the dunk contest here in New Orleans. The fans were amazing here. Every time I come in this building, I get chills thinking about it.

"I remember that whole experience. Being here, the fans were amazing. I saw in past years, nobody tried to really engage the crowd. I like to entertain. I tried to really engage the fans, give them something they'll remember."

Howard also explained how dunking during games doesn't equate to taking part in the competition.

"A lot of people see guys dunk in games and say they should do the dunk contest because they dunk in games," Howard said. "It's a different atmosphere. In games, you have the adrenaline going. You have your teammates out there. Everybody's out there playing. You're going up and down. In the dunk contest, it's just you, the basketball and the rim. It's a different situation. You have to build your own adrenaline. You have to get yourself going. It's tough. Not a lot of people are dunk contest dunkers. It doesn't matter if you're an elite player or not, the dunk contest is a different animal."