APDALLAS - Nate Robinson is the NBA’s first three-time slam dunk champion, and that’s enough for him. The 5-foot-9 New York Knicks guard says he’s done with the marquee event of Saturday night’s All-Star festivities.
“No, no, no, no, no. I don’t think I can bear that anymore. I’m just happy with this third one,” he said. “This is the last one.”
Robinson barely won another title, garnering 51 percent of the fan vote to hold off Toronto rookie DeMar DeRozan in a largely forgettable dunk contest.
DeRozan advanced to the final round after getting a perfect score of 50 on his second dunk of the first round.
After bringing several Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders on the court with him, Robinson’s final dunk came when he threw the ball off the backboard, grabbed it and turned midair for a two-handed backward slam.
“The best thing I brought with me, the Dallas cheerleaders of course,” Robinson said. “I asked if they could help me out with the dunk. They did their job and I did mine.”
While not using the cheerleaders as props — “They’re way too beautiful for that,” he said — Robinson celebrated his final dunk by grabbing a pair of silver and blue pompoms from one of them and waving them in the air.
Fan voting determined the final round after DeRozan advanced by getting five 10s from a judging panel that included former dunk champions Spud Webb and Dominique Wilkins. The 5-foot-7 Webb, a Dallas native, won the event the only other time it was held in his hometown in 1986.
Robinson won the dunk title as a rookie in 2006, then beat Dwight Howard to win again last year.
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DeRozan got a spot in the competition by winning the first-ever All-Star Slam Dunk-In, beating Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon at halftime of the rookie challenge on Friday night.
Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace and Shannon Brown of the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated after the first round in Saturday night’s marquee event.
While Robinson reigned again, Boston’s Paul Pierce arrived for All-Star weekend wanting to make up for an embarrassing performance.
Consider it done.
Pierce won the 3-Point Shootout, proving his lackluster performance the last time he was in the competition was an aberration.
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Pierce had 20 points in the final round, making all five of the 2-point money balls, to beat Golden State’s Stephen Curry (17) and Denver’s Chauncey Billups (14).
When Pierce last competed in the Shootout in 2002, he scored only eight points — what he called leading into this week’s competition “almost a record low.”
Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash also was a winner Saturday night, beating a trio of 20-somethings to capture another Skills Challenge title six days after he turned 36.
With a time of 29.9 seconds in the final round of the obstacle course-like skills competition, Nash beat Dallas native and 2008 champion Deron Williams of Utah, who is 11 years younger.
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“I got my second wind,” said Nash, who jokingly asked his younger opponents before the competition if he could start from the second station instead of doing the entire course.
Nash, whose other Skills Challenge title came in 2005, didn’t have any practice on the course before the competition.
“I tried my best without my warmup,” Nash said. “I missed the run-through because I was a little disjointed from the trip. ... I was kind of hoping for the best.”
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DPS: Dan Patrick talks about Phil Jackson's comments about starting a team with Bill Russell now because of his championships and brings up the great question of, if it's all about championships, how come we don't talk about guys like Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey or John Havlicek who all have multiple rings?
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DPS: Is it really all about the rings? DPS: Dan Patrick talks about Phil Jackson's comments about starting a team with Bill Russell now because of his championships and brings up the great question of, if it's all about championships, how come we don't talk about guys like Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey or John Havlicek who all have multiple rings? |
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