PHOENIX, Arizona (AFP) - Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks upstaged defending champion Dwight Howard to win the slam dunk competition that highlighted theNBA All-Star weekend.
The five-foot-nine Robinson leapt over the seven-foot Howard, who stood in front of the basket as his rival soared for a dunk that won over the fans whose votes decided the outcome.
"Dwight was a great sport letting me dunk over him," Robinson, who also won the dunk title in 2006, said of the Orlando Magic center.
"I asked him yesterday in the elevator. He was like, 'Hey, I'll do it.' I thought he was joking. He said, 'Yeah, I'll do it.'
"I was like, 'All right, that's going to be the final dunk if I make it to the finals.'"
Howard, who was the top vote-getter for Sunday's main event, the All-Star Game exhibition between the Eastern and Western conferences, had a relatively tame final round.
He pumped in a one-handed jam after ricocheting it off the side of the backboard.
He then threw one down from just inside the free-throw line.
"It was a lot of fun," Howard said. "Everybody expected so much from last year but all around we had a lot of fun."
Howard said it wasn't surprising the more diminutive Robinson won.
"The shorter man will win in a dunk contest because it looks real hard for him and easy for me. The better man won tonight. He had the crowd into it and I am happy for him."
Howard had been more creative in the preliminary rounds.
After donning a Superman cape en route to last year's title, Howard stuck with that theme, ducking into a phone booth to put one on.
In the final round Robinson wore an all-green ensemble that included a bright green ball.
The green jersey represented Robinson as kryptonite - or KryptoNate - to Howard's Superman.
"I just thought about kryptonite dunk, I didn't come up with KryptoNate. My agent did, actually," Robinson said.
Robinson and Howard moved on to the final round after eliminating JR Smith of the Denver Nuggets and Spaniard Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trail Blazers, the first international competitor in the dunk event's history.
Fernandez completed one of the most difficult dunks in recent memory, taking a pass off the backside of the backboard from compatriot Pau Gasol, grabbing it out of bounds and scooping in a one-handed jam on the other side of the rim.
However, his numerous attempts in the second round worked against him in the scoring.
The five-foot-nine Robinson leapt over the seven-foot Howard, who stood in front of the basket as his rival soared for a dunk that won over the fans whose votes decided the outcome.
"Dwight was a great sport letting me dunk over him," Robinson, who also won the dunk title in 2006, said of the Orlando Magic center.
"I asked him yesterday in the elevator. He was like, 'Hey, I'll do it.' I thought he was joking. He said, 'Yeah, I'll do it.'
"I was like, 'All right, that's going to be the final dunk if I make it to the finals.'"
Howard, who was the top vote-getter for Sunday's main event, the All-Star Game exhibition between the Eastern and Western conferences, had a relatively tame final round.
He pumped in a one-handed jam after ricocheting it off the side of the backboard.
He then threw one down from just inside the free-throw line.
"It was a lot of fun," Howard said. "Everybody expected so much from last year but all around we had a lot of fun."
Howard said it wasn't surprising the more diminutive Robinson won.
"The shorter man will win in a dunk contest because it looks real hard for him and easy for me. The better man won tonight. He had the crowd into it and I am happy for him."
Howard had been more creative in the preliminary rounds.
After donning a Superman cape en route to last year's title, Howard stuck with that theme, ducking into a phone booth to put one on.
In the final round Robinson wore an all-green ensemble that included a bright green ball.
The green jersey represented Robinson as kryptonite - or KryptoNate - to Howard's Superman.
"I just thought about kryptonite dunk, I didn't come up with KryptoNate. My agent did, actually," Robinson said.
Robinson and Howard moved on to the final round after eliminating JR Smith of the Denver Nuggets and Spaniard Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trail Blazers, the first international competitor in the dunk event's history.
Fernandez completed one of the most difficult dunks in recent memory, taking a pass off the backside of the backboard from compatriot Pau Gasol, grabbing it out of bounds and scooping in a one-handed jam on the other side of the rim.
However, his numerous attempts in the second round worked against him in the scoring.
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