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Nate Robinson and Dwight Howard made a great combo as finalists in Saturday’s NBA Slam Dunk contest.  The two put on a great show in the All-Star eve competition.  It was like David vs. Goliath or Superman vs. The Flash.

Nate is under 6-feet tall.  He is a speedy guard with the New York Knicks.  The official roster on NBA.com lists his height as 5-foot-9.  Reggie Miller, one of the color commentators for the contest on TNT, said twice that Nate was only 5-foot-2.

Either way, he has incredible spring in his legs and is jumping more than 3-feet off the ground just to reach the 10-foot rims.  He is able to get six inches or more over the rim.

Dwight Howard was the defending champion in the contest.  He wowed the crowd in 2008 when he donned a superman cape and soared to several huge slam dunks.  Dwight is a 6-foot-11, 265 pound center with the Orlando Magic.

At first it looked like Howard would earn a second straight title.  Howard reached the finals by dunking on a 12-foot rim in the first round.

That’s right.  A 12-foot rim.  He had arranged for a fork lift attached to a backboard and rim to be hidden in one corner.  The forklift was dramatically wheeled to courtside, then Howard turned showman.  He retreated to a phone booth in the corner, again donned a superman cape and easily slam dunked on the 12-foot rim.

How could he top that in the finals, more importantly, how could Nate Robinson top that to win.  Nate went first and turned in an impressive reverse slam.  His head was within about six inches of the rim.

Howard’s first finals dunk was also impressive.  He bounced the ball off the side of the backboard, caught the ball on his way up and soared so high, his elbow was above the rim.  That allowed him to slam the ball downward into the basket with authority.

Nate was wincing after that.  But the Knickerbocker dynamo topped it with his second attempt.  Believe it or not, he had Howard’s help.  Howard had agreed ahead of time to participate in Nate’s second attempt.  Howard stood facing the rim, just outside the defensive circle in front of the rim.

Nate actually leaped over the 6-foot-11 Howard and slammed the ball in.  He spread his legs as he soared upward and Howard‘s head went right in between.  Nate bumped Dwight‘s head a little.  But that still means Nate‘s crotch was over 6-feet off the floor.

Howard had one attempt left to regain support.  He attempted the long leap dunk made famous by Michael Jordan.  Howard backed up to the opposite end of the court from the basket.  He ran full court and took off just a few inches beyond the free line. He soared in and slammed the ball down with ease.

But it was hard to top the sight of a small guard leaping over a tall center for a slam dunk.

The finals were decided by a fan vote through text messaging.  Nate got 52% of the vote and walked away with the trophy.  It was a memorable show for anyone who played guard when they were young like I did.

None of us can jump like Nate Robinson but we can appreciate his success, maybe a little more than the big men do.

Dwight was more than gracious, though.  Just before Cheryl Miller announced the winner, she paused for dramatic effect.  She had started the announcement by saying, the 2009 winner of the slam dunk contest is…

While the crowd waited to hear the name of the winner, Dwight pointed to Nate, as if he deserved to win.  Superman is super classy, too, don’t you think?