Krypto-Nate Uses Spritely Charm to Win Slam Dunk Crown

With none of the Knicks getting invited out to Phoenix to play in today's All-Star Game, New York's own Nate Robinson used his under six-foot status to play the role of underdog and swipe the Slam Dunk Competition crown away from Orlando's Dwight Howard. Howard won 2008's contest by donning a Superman cape that would see a reprisal last night—this time accompanied by the heightened theatrics of Howard busting out of a phone booth toward his dunk march. But Nate came prepared with a costume of his own, making the most of some leftover Knicks St. Patty's promotional gear and donning all green (surely to the delight of contest sponsor Sprite) to become "Krypto-Nate." Not since the 2000 3 Doors Down tour have so many fans found themselves on the side of Kryptonite as Robinson eked out Howard in the final round by a fans' text messaging vote count of 52 to 48 percent. It was Robinson's second victory after a win in 2006.

Last night proved once again that the most entertaining All-Star event might not even be any of the major sports' actual games, but the NBA's always entertaining Saturday night festivities. Howard really demonstrated the spirit of the evening by allowing himself to be a prop in Robinson's final dunk, as the 5'9" Knicks guard leaped over the 7-foot Magic center for the slam.

Robinson has his work cut out for him if he's looking for a hat trick next year. Word is that LeBron James will be making his dunk contest debut in Dallas next February. If Nate won his first title by jumping over Spud Webb in 2006 and used Howard last night, he might need to leapfrog over Gheorghe Muresan in order to have a shot at beating LeBron.

The NBA's site has all of the dunks from last night as well as some head turning slams from years past.

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By Billy Parker in News on February 15, 2009 12:40 PM

Comments [rss]

longacre

Don't the Knicks see something wrong in wearing the colors of their biggest archrivals, the Celtics? I certainly do.

matthew gannon

Rudy Fernandez got screwed in the Dunk competition. The dunk he kept missing was completed by the rules.

But, Howard's elevated rim dunk looked WAY TOO easy for him. I bet he could have added 2-3 more feet and made it.

babyhitler

these chumps ain't got nothing on Vince Carter's first dunk in 2000. That is what all dunk's should be held to.

Snoopy

That dude looks like he is fleeing from a crime scene over a fence.

David McCaffredy

I'm gonna say greatest ever was '86 when Dominique Wilkins & Spud Webb went at it. Webb was two inches shorter than Nate at 5'7". Unbelievable.

matty

ok not better than the 88 jordan wilkins matchup but the dee brown one is still my favorite

matty

nothing will ever be better than dee brown's blindfolded dunk that he pumped up his reebok pumps for.

mac_tanaguchi

not that i believe in conspiracy theories, but it seemed like the competition was rigged to get a nate/dwight final, what with all the theatrics they had prepared. i just feel bad for rudy getting taken for a ride. he had some of the best dunks in the first round, and got no respect. people already had their minds set on him not being able to perform.

jackdonaghy

Nah, the other contestants weren't as good as Dwight and Nate. It took Fernandez about 7 attempts to finally nail a dunk and JR Smith was boring.

That said, the judges are biased to a degree, which explains why Howard got a perfect score on a good, but not great dunk. Nate won b/c fans, not the judges were able to vote.