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Little man Robinson huge in dunk contest
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-20 08:43
HOUSTON - NBA basketball is a big man's game. Don't tell that to 5-foot-9
Nate Robinson. The New York Knicks' rookie won the NBA All-Star slam dunk
competition Saturday night, beating out 6-foot-6 Andre Iguodala of Philadelphia,
6-9 Hakim Warrick of Memphis and 6-9 defending champ Josh Smith of Atlanta.
New York Knicks
guard Nate Robinson skies over 1986 slam dunk champion Spud Webb during
the slam dunk contest at the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston, Texas,
February 18, 2006. Robinson won the event.
[Reuters] | Tonight, Bode is back in the men's
giant slalom.
Robinson, who earned a $35,000 first prize, electrified
the Toyota Center by taking a bounce pass from Spud Webb, the 1986 champion, and
leaping over the 5-7 Webb to jam. The stunt earned a perfect 50-point score to
force a dunk-off against Iguodala, who had received two perfect scores.
In the dunk-off, Robinson jammed on the 14th try, catching his own pass off
the backboard. He earned 47 points, edging Iguodala by a point.
"This is something I dream about," Robinson said before the contest.
"Hopefully, kids go out there and one day want to be like me. Hopefully I can
just go out there and just send a message to some of these kids that, even
though you're small, you can mean so much more to yourself and your friends and
family and to people all across the world."
Each player dunked twice in the first round, with a panel of five judges
awarding composite scores between 30 and 50 points. The top two scores advanced
to the finals.
The dunk contest highlighted All-Star Saturday, which included the
three-point shootout, the skills challenge and the shooting stars.
In the 20th three-point shootout, Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, a 7-footer,
outshot Seattle's Ray Allen and Washington's Gilbert Arenas in the final round
to win the $35,000 first prize. Nowitzki scored 18 points, topping Arenas' 16
and Allen's 15. Players circle the three-point arc, pulling balls off racks and
hitting as many shots as they can in 60 seconds.
"Obviously, it's a little different shooting off the rack," said Nowitzki,
who is shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc this season. "Game shots are
totally different."
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