DALLAS -- One of the concerns about the Sprite Slam Dunk, after more than a quarter-century of throwdowns on All-Star Saturday, is that all possible dunks have been done. Until players sprout wings or sneakers pack booster jets, there would seem to be a limit to the combinations of altitude, angles, intensity and gravity.
Imagine how New York's reserve guard Nate Robinson felt then, competing at American Airlines Center Saturday for the fifth consecutive year in a contest he already had won twice. To have any more tricks up his sleeves, the Knicks' pocket rocket would need Dikembe Mutombo's reach. And both arms.
And yet, Robinson came up with enough to defeat Toronto Raptors rookie DeMar DeRozan in the 2010 dunk event, earning enough acclaim from the former NBA players-turned-judges in the first round, then getting 51 percent of the fans' votes via text-messaging or online at NBA.com. He successfully defended his '09 title and became the first three-time champion, breaking his tie with two-timers Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner and Jason Richardson.
"You've got to kind of figure out a dunk that nobody's tried,'' Robinson said of finding something new, or at least refurbished, to dazzle dunk devotees. "Or kind of like a tribute dunk, I guess or you know, a copycat dunk, you could say.
"But myself, I think, 'What can get the kids out of their seats? What can get people's attention?' That's what you've got to try to do.''
With four players -- Robinson, DeRozan, Charlotte's Gerald Wallace and the Lakers' Shannon Brown -- competing in the two-round, two dunks-per-round exhibition, the compact (5-foot-9), powerfully built (180 pounds) Robinson saved his best for last.
After Wallace and Brown were eliminated in the first round -- Brown, a favorite of many NBA players, was disappointingly ordinary -- Robinson went for local appeal by recruiting four Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders to stand in support -- and as scenery -- nearby. He tried twice to come in from behind the basket and twist in a slam, but missed, so Robinson went with a big bounce from the left wing that he caught and jammed home.
DeRozan -- who had earned his Saturday berth by besting Clippers guard Eric Gordon in the league's first-ever Dunk-In on Friday -- followed with a memorable dunk. The rookie had Raptors teammate Sonny Weems face the rim and toss the ball off the backboard while DeRozan ran up behind and then vaulted him. He controlled the rebound with his right hand and jammed it through.
DeRozan also had scored the night's only 50 in the first round after Weems tossed the ball off the left edge of the backboard and DeRozan cranked it down.
Said Robinson: "Young fella, he can jump. Downstairs when we was practicing, he was doing some different dunks that I thought he was going to do. But I guess they were just for warm-ups. So don't be surprised when you see him next year.''
It became a wait-till-next-year night for DeRozan after Robinson's final dunk. This time, the Knicks guard scooped the ball off the backboard, spun and put it through with two hands, backwards, in a move that accentuated his size and leaping ability. When DeRozan missed once, then countered with a two-handed windmill that seemed a little ordinary, the title was Robinson's. Again.
"No, no, no,'' he said later. "No more titles. It's the last one.''
Robinson said he never considered giving the Jerry Jones' cheerleaders a bigger role such as, oh, stacking them in a pyramid to jump over. "The main thing was just to have them out there,'' he said. "They're pretty much the face of the Cowboys -- there's about a hundred of them -- and they picked the best four.''
It also was a nice plug for the All-Star Game Sunday, which will be played in the massive Cowboys Stadium. "We're in Dallas,'' Robinson said. "Right when they said I was in [this contest], I was like, 'I've got to be creative, I've got to think of something fast.' I'm a football guy -- I watch a lot of football, so I see them all the time. Especially on that big Jumbotron, you can't miss 'em.''
Couldn't miss the little guy with the big hops -- and this time, no props -- either.
.:Haikal #08:. @ 2:28 PM
