Dwight "Superman" Howard Wins The Memorable 2008 Slam Dunk Contest

Sporting a red cape trailing behind him, Orlando's man of steel Dwight Howard made like Superman and won perhaps the best dunk contest, definitely the most creative, in NBA history to close a memorable All-Star Saturday.

This guy is just a beast. The pure size of him makes it impossible for anyone to match up. Shaquille O'Neal who?

They Are Big Dunkers

Orlando's Dwight Howard stood tall in the Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night by winning the event. Howard also became the tallest player to take the title since the contest started in 1984.

Tallest Slam Dunk Champions

Year	Winner (team)	Height
2008	Dwight Howard (Magic)	6-11
1984	Larry Nance (Suns)	6-10
2005	Josh Smith (Hawks)	6-9
2007	Gerald Green (Celtics)	6-8
1989	Kenny Walker (Knicks)	6-8

Using a variety of props as well as teammate Jameer Nelson, Howard scored perfect 50s from judges on his first two dunks before the contest was turned over to fan voting for the first time in the final round.

Fans, too, picked the 6-foot-11 Howard, who dispelled an old dunking myth: Big men can fly high.

"It's really for the big men," Howard said. "Everybody always says, big men can't jump and big men don't look good dunking. I just tried to add a little bit of my personality. With me being so tall, I knew it was going to be tough. I tried to play to the crowd and have fun."

I don't remember anyone ever saying that.

The dunk contest, bland for so many years as the game's high risers seemed to run out of ideas, was freshened up by some of the most creative aerial assaults in memory.

Howard, Green, Toronto's Jamario Moon and Memphis' Rudy Gay all used tape, ladders, teammates and even a tasty dessert to show their stuff.

"I think the dunk contest is back," said Howard, who was disappointed when he failed to make it out of the first round last year. "I don't think people want to see the same old dunks. They want to see something else, see some spice."

Earlier, Jason Kapono showed nobody's close to him from long distance.

The NBA's best 3-point shooter this season, the Toronto forward with the silky touch won his second straight 3-point Shootout, tying a 22-year-old record with a final round of 25.

They should have blindfolded this guy. That's how good of a shooter he is. It just wasn't fair.

In the Skills Challenge, Utah's Deron Williams was flawless and fast.

With a nearly perfect run through an obstacle course of dribbling, passing and shooting, the Jazz point guard defeated New Orleans playmaker Chris Paul in the final round.

In the night's first event, San Antonio's Becky Hammon, David Robinson and Tim Duncan won the Shooting Stars competition. It featured three-person teams consisting of an NBA player, a WNBA player and a former NBA great from the same city. Contestants had to make six shots with the final one a heave from midcourt.

Shaquille O'Neal Is Going To Bring Some Heat To The Phoenix Suns

In one of the most improbable trades in NBA history, the Miami Heat traded Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com.

Who would have thought that trading Shaquille O'Neal would have been so simple? The Miami Heat, other than the obvious fact that they are a very bad team, have terrible team chemistry issues. Pat Riley and Shaq were not getting along. Likewise, Shawn Marion wasn't mixing well with his team either.

The Suns have been plagued by well-chronicled concerns about their chemistry for nearly two years, generally focusing on the occasional dissatisfaction voiced behind the scenes by either Marion or Stoudemire. In the locker room as well as the front office, sources told Stein, there are factions that have believed for some time that one of them would eventually have to be traded for the Suns to reach their full potential.

Marion asked to be traded before the season but has rarely mentioned that declaration since, with many Suns insiders believing that he went public with that request mostly as a protest response to being mentioned in trade rumors for years.

O'Neal turns 36 in March and has been plagued by a persistent hip problem that has cost him 14 games this season. He refused to speak with Miami reporters after Tuesday's practice, while Riley insisted that O'Neal would soon undergo an MRI after missing the Heat's past six games.

And when he has been healthy, O'Neal is averaging a career-worst 14.2 points and 7.8 rebounds, while the Heat's demise has deepened after they followed their historic comeback from 2-0 down against Dallas in the 2006 NBA Finals by absorbing a first-round sweep by Chicago last season.

Marion, a four-time All-Star, is averaging 15.6 points and 9.8 rebounds this season, while Banks is putting up 5.2 points and 1.0 assist per game.

Obviously, Marion and Wade will fit will together. But, what can Shaq offer the Suns? Though this seems on the surface to be a terrible trade, the Suns are hoping to get out of Shaq at least 20 minutes of offensive and defensive pressure in the paint that wasn't there when Marion was playing for them. Now, they have a huge center that can compete with Tim Duncan and the Spurs or Andrew Bynum on the Lakers. They can still run up and down the court with their fast paced offense, but when all else fails, just throw the ball to the big man under the rim.

Rosters For The 2008 NBA All-Star Game Has Been Revealed

2008 NBA All-Stars
Rosters for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, to be played Feb 17 in New Orleans. (x-starter; reserves were named Thursday):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Player, Pos.	Team
Chauncey Billups, G	Detroit
Chris Bosh, F	Toronto
Caron Butler, G	Washington
x-Kevin Garnett, F	Boston
Richard Hamilton, G	Detroit
x-Dwight Howard, F	Orlando
x-LeBron James, F	Cleveland
Antawn Jamison, F	Washington
Joe Johnson, G	Atlanta
x-Jason Kidd, G	New Jersey
Paul Pierce, F	Boston
x-Dwyane Wade, G	Miami
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Player	Team
x-Carmelo Anthony, F	Denver
Carlos Boozer, F	Utah
x-Kobe Bryant, G	LA Lakers
x-Tim Duncan, F	San Antonio
x-Allen Iverson, G	Denver
x-Yao Ming, C	Houston
Steve Nash, G	Phoenix
Dirk Nowitzki, F	Dallas
Chris Paul, G	New Orleans
Brandon Roy, G	Portland
Amare Stoudemire, F	Phoenix
David West, F	New Orleans

--Chris Paul and David West were picked for their first All-Star Game Thursday night, giving the hometown Hornets a pair of players for the event New Orleans will host next month.

--Boston will only send two of its Big Three to the Big Easy. Paul Pierce was voted in by Eastern Conference head coaches to join starter Kevin Garnett, but Ray Allen fell short.

--The Pistons' Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton are headed back for the third straight year.

--Toronto's Chris Bosh and Atlanta guard Joe Johnson were the other players picked for the East, which will be coached by Boston's Doc Rivers. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, the reigning NBA MVP, Utah's Carlos Boozer and Portland guard Brandon Roy were selected from the West.

--Missing out during the worst season of his career was Shaquille O'Neal, ending his streak of 14 consecutive All-Star selections. That tied the record held by Jerry West and Karl Malone.

--Garnett, LeBron James, Orlando's Dwight Howard, New Jersey's Jason Kidd and Miami's Dwyane Wade were voted by fans to start for the East. The West starters are Denver's Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, San Antonio forward Tim Duncan and Houston center Yao Ming.

--Predictions?? Well, from looking at these rosters, I really would have a hard time if I had to bet on this game. The Eastern and Western rosters are fully stacked with the top guys, but the combination of Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Paul Pierce, and Jason Kidd provide the speed, passing, and scoring edge over the Western players. For years I've heard the Western Conference has always been better. That statement doesn't have much weight to it anymore.

Spurs Open Season With a Win

The San Antonio Spurs did what they do best, win basketball games. On the night they were celebrating their most recent NBA Title, they beat the Portland Trail Blazers 106-97.

Going into this game we knew what to expect from the Spurs. More dominance this season, and they are going to be there when it comes time to decide who is playing in the NBA Finals. What I did take out of this game is how good the Trail Blazers can be. Think about the fact that Greg Oden is not there this season. LaMarcus Aldridge is a freak of nature waiting to dominant the pain. Brandon Roy is a fantastic player that needs to be a shooting guard, not a point guard.

This team will not make the playoffs next year, but if they can get a lottery pick, and draft a PG they are going to be a force in the next 2-3 years.

But lets go back to the Spurs. How good is this team? It seems they win over 50 games every year, they make it deep into the playoffs, and throughout the season all we hear about are the Suns and Mavericks. How come they do not get the respect they deserve? This is a team who has been as dominant in their sport as any team has been over the past 8 years. I think they are going to do the same this season. People will over look them and talk about the more flashy teams. But I promise you this. To make it to the Finals, you are going to need to get through the Spurs first.