As Told by A.S.

Author: Andrew Schlegel

This year's NBA All-Star weekend took place in Las Vegas, Nev. The slam dunk contest followed the three-point shootout and the skills challenge to cap off an impressive Saturday night. Gerald Green of the Boston Celtics revolutionized the dunk contest and sent the crowd home with an acrobatic leap over a three-foot table, which received perfect tens from all of the judges.

Green dominated the dunk contest this year with some of the most original dunks ever seen in an event with not much room for innovation. In the first round, he started with an electrifying two-handed slam on an alley-oop pass off the side of the backboard from teammate Paul Pierce and received a score of 47 points.

For his next dunk, Green jumped over fellow finalist Nate Robinson while wearing the number seven Celtics jersey of '91 dunk champion Dee Brown, shielding his eyes in the crook of his elbow in homage to Brown's memorable Peek-A-Boo dunk.

In the final round, with his windmill jam over the table, Green went for even more and proved beyond doubt that he deserved the title.

Nate Robinson, who lost in the final, had some impressive dunks, but the 5'9'' point guard came up short. In the first round, he threw up a pass that he let bounce before he slammed it down with authority. Then, in the final, he threw the ball off the backboard and in mid-air caught the ball and did a 360-jam. But, this dunk took too many tries and brought down Robinson's score.

Dwight Howard, the 6'11'' power forward for the Orlando Magic, did not make it to the final round, but still had one of the most impressive dunks in the contest. His less than perfect score of 42 showed that tall players are not respected in the slam dunk contest at all. While catching a high bounce pass from teammate Jameer Nelson for a right-handed slam, Howard reached nearly to the top of the backboard to slap a sticker bearing his face onto the glass. Using a tape measure, Nelson calculated the sticker to be 12'6''off the ground.

Tyrus Thomas of the Chicago Bulls was a disappointment. None of his dunks were innovative or even in the same league as those of the other participants. But with all fairness to Thomas, this year's dunk contest was difficult to compete in because it was one of the best that there has been.

Of all the events that took place this All-Star weekend, the slam dunk contest was the most engagin and exciting. The dunks were innovative and nearly incomprehensible. And, on top of that, the Boston Celtics, who had lost 18 consecutive games before beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 14, were finally able to win something.