NBA All-Star Saturday Highlights

NBA All-Star Saturday night has become a fan favorite event with all the hoopla and special competitions they have. There's the Skills contest which tests a player's ability and agility around an obstacle course. There's the 3 point shootout where ballers test their accuracy from beyond the arc. And then there's an event where creativity reigns supreme, the Dunk contest.

Team Shooting competition

In the newest of the contests city-teams were made up of 1 retired NBA star, 1 current NBA star and a WNBA star from that city. The Spurs team of David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Becky Hammon beat out the Chicago Bulls squad featuring Chris Duhon, BJ Armstrong and

Skills Contest

As players tried to get through an obstacle course to the basket quickly, Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz edged out hometown hero Chris Paul to take this one.

Foot Locker 3 Point Shootout

In the 3 point shootout, Detroit Piston Rip Hamilton had his score subtracted from, added back to and subtracted from yet again. The reason being RIP stepped on the 3 point line a few times too many. Hamilton ended up with a score of 14 for the first round and was eliminated early.

Daniel "Boobie" Gibson had a record 11 three pointers in last night's Rookies vs. Sophomores Challenge. He continued his performance by getting a score of 17 in Round 1 of the shooutout.

Dirk Nowitski tied Gibson's mark with 17 despite missing a 3 badly. Reggie Miller remarked that Dirk must have been out on Bourbon St. late last night.

Defending champion Jason Kapono came through with a score of 20, even though he now plays for the Raptors and not the Heat. Kapono kept momentum into the finals and tied a record

NBA Slam Dunk Contest

Jamario Moon set the stage early with a top score, but Dwight Howard came with a toss off the back of the backboard, followed by a one handed jam. Impressive stuff. Rudy Gay proved to be more of a "game dunker

But it only got more amazing and creative. Gerald Green enlisted the services of teammate Rashard McCants for the "Birthday cake dunk". McCants placed a cupcake up on the rim and lit the candle. Green then ran, soared and blew out the candle before dunking the ball with both hands. An impressive dunk for creativity's sake.

Dwight Howard followed up his earlier dunk with a "Superman Dunk". Howard ripped off his Magic jersey to reveal the Superman logo on his shirt, then donned a red "S" cape. Howard soared from below the free throw line and basically just threw the ball through the basket. No dunk, but still major creativity by Howard.

Green faced Howard in the finals. Green's obne dunk really made no sense where he signed his sneakers then removed them for a dunk in his green socks. Daryl Dawkins, one of the contest judges, was not impressed as he just pushed the shoes off the table.

Howard was clearly in control of the contest and just needed a simple dunk to win. Instead of simple, Howard had a mini Orlando Magic basketball hoop suction-cupped to the backboard. The NBA basketball was placed on the mini hoop. On attempt #2, Howard grabbed the ball off the mini rim and tomahawked it with both hands through the real hoop. D-Howard is your 2008 Dunk contest winner, after fans made the text message vote official.

A fun NBA All-Star Saturday night should make way for another great All-Star game this Sunday!