All Star Weekend 2008

Just finished watching the NBA All Star game, the culminating event of All Star Weekend. Definitely one of the better All Star Weekends inrecent memory. The game was competitive, coming down to the last minute. The word came down just before the game that Jason Kidd had pretty much officially been traded to the Mavs. And best of all, the Slam Dunk contest was incredible.

A quick history: tall players never win the Slam Dunk contest. The last guy over about 6-8 that won the event was Larry Nance in 1984, which was actually the first NBA dunk contest. It just doesn't look as cool when a big guy dunks as it does when a guard dunks. For my money, that makes what Dwight Howard did Saturday night even more impressive.

Howard stands 7 feet tall and in truth, the tall thing worked against him last year when he didn't get close to the recognition he deserved for his dunks. Obviously he's been working on this year's dunks all season. He combined finesse with power perfectly and came up with some incredibly creative moves.

In the history of the Dunk Contest, two names stand out as to the combined awesomeness of all their dunks: Vince Carter in 2000 and Jason Richardson in 2003. Nothing was even close to these player's total package, though I still think Jordan jumping from the free throw line in 88 was the best dunk ever. What Howard did Saturday, in my mind, blew Jason Richardson out of the water and put him solidly in second place all time and might just rival Vince for the best ever. He took past dunks, added new elements to them, and did them in ways that defied the laws of gravity and nature itself. Absolutely amazing. After Josh Smith and Gerald Green breathed new life into this contest in the last couple of years (let's forget all about Nate Robinson somehow pulling out a victory despite missing his dunk 16 freaking times), Dwight Howard brought it squarly back to where it once was with four mind blowing throw downs.