Records, Repeats, Cupcakes, and SUPERMAN

Tonight had to be one of the most exciting All-Star Saturday Nights in a VERY long time. We had a Skillz Challenge record set, by Jazz guard Deron Williams, we saw the sharpshooting small forward from Toronto, Jason Kapono, defend his crown in the three point shootout, and we saw Dwight Howard and Gerald Green put on probably the most spectacular performance in the history of the Slam Dunk Contest.


-Gerald Green of the Minnesota Timberwolves, goes to complete his "Birthday Cake" dunk in the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest.


-2008 Slam Dunk Champion, Dwight Howard, goes up for his SUPERMAN dunk, which amazed the crowd, beyond belief.

I'll skip talking about the Shooting Stars competition, because, as usual, it was less than exciting. So, I'll begin with the Playstation Skillz Challenge, which Jazz guard, Deron Williams won easily, over New Orleans hometown hero, point guard, Chris Paul. Deron Williams recorded a record time in the final round of this contest, clocking in at, 25.5 seconds. Paul finished in a close second, completing the course in 31.2 seconds. Nets point guard Jason Kidd and 2 time Skillz Challenge Champ, Dwyane Wade, failed to advance to the 2nd round, completing the course in 39.7 and 53.9 seconds, respectively.

Not only did Toronto's marksman, Jason Kapono win his second straight Foot Locker Three Point Shootout, but by scoring 25 points in the final round, tied Mark Price's all-time record, set in 1986. Kapono edged out last nights Rookie Challenge MVP, Daniel Gibson, and 2006 3 point champ, Dirk Nowitzki in the final round. Gibson scored 17 in the final round, to place second, and Dirk took third, scoring 14 in the final round. The other contestants included, Detroit's Richard Hamilton, Phoenix's Steve Nash, and New Orleans' Peja Stojakovic, who all failed to qualify for the second round.

Finishing off the night, was the always exciting Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Timberwolves swing man, Gerald Green was looking to defend his dunking crown, while Orlando center, Dwight Howard was looking to avenge his early exit from last years contest. Memphis forward, Rudy Gay, and Toronto, rookie, forward, Jamario Moon, both newcomers to the contest, both looked to make a bang in the exciting event. However, after mediocre dunks from Rudy Gay, and exciting, but not dunk contest worthy dunks from Jamario Moon, Dwight Howard and Gerald Green would put on a show no NBA fan will ever forget. Dwight Howard producing two incredible first round dunks, and then starting the second round off with the SUPERMAN DUNK. Gerald Green's most memorable dunk, had to be his first dunk. Called, the "Birthday Cake" dunk, Green blew out a candle on a cupcake, sitting on the back of the rim, before jamming the ball in the hole. However, Green was no match for Superman's second round, and Dwight won handily, receiving 5 out of 5 votes from the judges panel, and 74% of the vans vote, online and via text message. A full recap of this video can be seen in the following video, brought to you by ESPN.com.




Overall, a very exciting night, and it should carry over well into tomorrow's All-Star game. All the participants tonight put on quite a show, and next years Saturday events should be even better. Also making headlines today, was Sacramento's trade of Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks. Tomorrow should be entertaining, and this weekend should finish off well.