In the NBA All-Star theatrics tonight, 7-footer Dirk Nowitzki won the 3-point shooting contest and 5-foot-9 Nate Robinson won the slam dunk competition.
But the story is even better than the irony.
Robinson, a first-round draft pick out of Washington, electrified the Toyota Center by taking a bounce pass from Spud Webb, the 1986 slam dunk champion, and leaping over the 5-foot-7 Webb for the jam.
The best technical dunk of the night likely belonged to Andre Iguodala, who caught an Allen Iverson pass off the back of the glass and glided under the backboard and rim for a reverse-slam on the other side. But after Robinson brought the house down by sailing over Webb for a spectacular jackknife slam, the momemtum shifted. The judges even looked like they were in cohoots in favor of Robinson, glancing at each other before they revealed their scores to force the first tiebreaker in the competition’s history.
The better story wins every time.
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Theatrics, indeed. I was glued to my seat! Yes, the better story does win.