AND1 4EVA - All Star Game 2001

	All Star Game 2001
More on NBA - Articles - History - Nicknames - Photos - Players - Screensavers - Videos - Wallpapers More Articles - AND1 articles - Hip-Hip articles - Notic articles - Slam Nation articles - Streetball articles	Like you didn't already know, Smack is gonna be your spot for the latest from Washington. Check back here several times a day for updated Smack on the players, the parties, the events and of course, the honeys. Look for our first updates tonight, 'cause we'll be there early.... February 8th - The Smack Gods arrive in DC for All-Star Weekend. Thursday, 8:00pm We promised ya, so here it is: continuous Smack from All-Star Weekend in D.C. Е He's baaack. Chauncey Billups set an All-Star record for most time logged in the lobby of the players' hotel in San Fran last year. We peeped him today, arriving almost before anyone else, lookin' to hold on to his titleЕ.By the way, Billups was rockin' one of KG's OBF t-shirtsЕ.We found out that despite the original report that the MRI on Theo Ratliff's injured wrist was negative, the dude actually broke it. Needless to say, he won't be ballin' on SundayЕ.We were chillin' at the ESPN Zone this afternoon. Alonzo Mourning was on hand for the debut of the new PlayStation2 "ESPN's NBA Tonight" video game. 'Zo was playing contest winner Josh Siskin in the new game on the big screen at the 'Zone. Needless to say, Josh broke out the whup ass on 'Zo, winning by 20. The highlight, though, had to be when Josh, playing as the Knicks, stuck a threeball as Larry Johnson. Josh put down the controller, looked at 'Zo and gave him the "L" symbol. 'Zo wasn't amusedЕ.Dirk, Finley and Mark Cuban were on TRL todayЕ.Question: If that group O-Town from the show "Making the Band" rolls through the lobby of the players' hotel, does anybody notice? The answer is definitely "no." Except for us. Which is kind of sad. We should stop talking about it nowЕ.We hear Jessica Simpson is due in any time now. Let the stalking begin. Consider the "Search for Simpson 2001" officially onЕ.We're out like Ratliff. February 9 - The Smack Gods hang with KG and Sheed is bent out of shape again. Friday, 8:00 am The Smack Gods spent last night hangin' at Kevin Garnett's invite-only party in downtown DC. KG rolled in around 9:00 PM and hung with OBF in a corner booth for a good three hours....Also making appearances were Chauncey Billups, Desmond Mason, Glenn Robinson, Khalid El-Amin, Elton Brand and Michael Ruffin. The street was heavily represented as well, with playground stars Shane, Main Event, Headache, Lonnie Harrell and A-O all stoppin' by. The crew will be playing in a game at American University tonight to get people fired up for next summer's AND 1 Mix Tape tour...By the way, AI hosted a downtown party that started at two in the morning and went 'till six bells. Wanna bet nothing good could happen at 6:00 AM in DC after an AI bash?... We stumbled accross Diesel hangin' in the players' hotel lobby at 4am. If you ever get to peep Shaq up close and in full effect, he's way bigger than you can possibly imagine. And, while we're at it, so is the bracelet he was rockin'. Daddy was sportin' a sick platinum piece that was probably worth more than the Wizards....After doing DC proud, we rolled back to our Hotel Harrington only to find Rasheed Wallace and Stromile Swift trying to scrounge up some late-night grub. Let's just say they were not at all happy when they discovered the hotel's bar/restaurant was closed for the night. Is it just us, or should Stromile and Sheed be looking to score a lot more than a bacon, egg and cheese at 2:30 AM during the first night of All-Star weekend?...Jessica Simpson stalking update: still no sign of her. But rest assured, we're not even close to giving up....We're out like Stro and Sheed's rap. February 9 - Anthony Mason learns to control his temper, and we find Jessica Simpson. Friday, 7:00pm The first half of Friday is done down in D.C. and here's some of what we sawЕ.Can someone tell us why a) Bruce Bowen is here; and b) why he got out of a police car this morning with all his bags?Е.Is it wrong that Jahidi White's got a posse of like 8 deep rolling with him everywhere he goes?Е.When Allen Iverson and his sizeable crew were making their way through the lobby this afternoon, a woman ran towards Iverson yelling "Allen! Allen!" - apparently looking for an autograph. One of AI's boys saw the woman coming and tossed her outta the way. The lady was bounced all the way into one of the lobby's gift shopsЕ.We found Jessica Simpson tryin' to look undercover in the morning, wearing sweatpants and shades. Then we bumped into her again in the afternoon. This time Ms. Simpson was all done up like she was getting ready for a night out with the Smack GodsЕ.This afternoon was also Media Day for all the players. Even though attendance for players was mandatory, Kobe blew it off. He said he'd gladly pay the fine for the unexcused absenceЕ.We hung with Anthony Mason while he went on for about 15 minutes about how he's learned to "focus his belligerence." CoolЕ.Glenn Robinson told us that the other night he played "Road Rash" on his PS2 from 10 pm 'til 5 in the morningЕ.When Iverson walked in, ya would've though it was Elvis come back to life. Everyone with a camera made a mad dash for AI, trampling whatever people and furniture might have been in their wayЕ.Darius Miles and Q were great today. They have matching, monster platinum medallions around their necks. Darius' reads "D-Miles #21" and Q's reads "Q-Rich #3." The pieces are roughly the size of small childrenЕ.Oh yeah, and Nikki McCray is smokin'Е.We're out like 15Gs from Kobe's wallet after this afternoon. February 10 - The Smack Gods check in with the latest from D.C. The spot to be down here so far has definitely been Popeye's. Don't laugh, it's where all the players and their boys have been goin' to eat. Yesterday, we were splittin' spicy chicken sandwiches with Rashard Lewis and crew. Then we peeped DeShawn Stevenson and Co. in there a little while laterЕ.We bumped into Antoine Walker last night on the street. Don't ask us why he was here. We were gonna ask him, but he and his boys were too busy whistling and yelling at a group of honeys down the streetЕ.The Smack Gods ran over to check out Rookie Practice last night at the D.C. Convention Center. There wasn't much goin' on, but we did catch Franchise and Lamar Odom locked up in a little one-on-one game that was pretty niceЕ.The practice was for the fans, so the NBA tried to make it as entertaining as possible. The coaches were wearing Madonna headsets so you could hear the instructions being called out and what they were saying to the players. Kevin Loughery, the Rookies coach, was telling the fans how great a player Darius Miles is. Then, almost mid-sentence, after watching D-Miles hit a jumper from the foul line, Loughery says in front of, oh say 500 people: "Come on Darius, why can't you ever do that in a game?"ЕThe Smack Gods rolled out in downtown D.C. last night after everything was finished and here's one thing we learned: If you're a dude, and you're chubby enough to have a mean set of "man-boobs", don't wear a white, skin-tight shirt. Just don't do itЕ.Here's another thing we leaned: When two honeys that are sitting right next to you spontaneously start making out, it's one of the coolest things you've ever seenЕ.We're out like man-boobs. February 12 - Another baller gets robbed, and we spot the hottest ride in D.C. Now that's what it's all about. The last 10 minutes of the All-Star Game was off the hook, with the best ballers in the world steppin' up. Dik's 21 boards, AI's scrappin', Steph's threeballs and Kobe's scoring at will - it was all sickЕ. Despite Kobe's display, he still ain't escaping the wrath of the Smack Gods. Did you see the player intros, when all the dudes came out of the tunnel and ran by that line of kids slappin' hands? Kobe was the only guy who didn't even look at the kids. PunkЕ.Here's an idea: Instead of bringing out Harry Connick, Jr. in a Pistol Pete jersey for a rag-time halftime show, just have Jessica Simpson and Deborah Cox do encores of the U.S. and Canadian natioanl anthemsЕ.The best ride we saw in D.C. had to be the white Navigator with the "This Nav's like whoa!" stickers on itЕ.While were gone, it looks like Erick Dampier was robbed at gunpoint over the weekend. Damp lost $250,000 in jewelry and $3,000 in bills. The dude who jacked him claims he didn't know Dampier played for the Warriors. Who exactly did he think Dampier was when he robbed him? A 7-foot, diesel, Domino's delivery guy who happened to be rockin' half a mill in ice?Е.We caught Penny Hardaway's spot on MTV's "Cribs" last night. The dude's game room is so big, it's actually detached from his house. How can a dude with as little game as Penny has have a spot so phat?Е. We're out like Harry Connick's acting. You just don't realize what a spectacle All-Star Weekend is unless you actually get to experience it first-hand. Everything is blown out - the honeys, the posses, the parties, the rides; it's wild. Here's what we're talkin' about. Last night, the Smack Gods were coming back from a night out downtown when we passed the players' hotel. For blocks and blocks around the spot, traffic was gridlocked. At 4 am. Did we mention that it seemed like half the cars clogging up the flow were stretch, SUV-style limos? Then the players' hotel itself was ridiculous. Keeping in mind that it was 4 am, there were tons of heads milling around outside and hangin' out. There were sets of guards at every entrance making sure that only registered guests made it inside the doors. It was understandable. The lobby of the Grand Hyatt was a circus. It looked like the show "The Grind" inside, with hundreds of people, all dressed to kill, bumping into each other. Sometimes misfortune works for the fortunate. Today, riding into DC for Day One of the All Star fiesta, me and my crew were unfortunately lost. Fortunately, because we were lost, we got the opportunity to see DC 'unplugged' style. From the ghetto to the floss, we rolled through the Capital's neighborhoods, slowly, trying to find our way to the hotel. Ill posters describing All Star Weekend parties were tacked everywhere we went, from street poles to store fronts. Locals were out in the streets, leaving their last 'official' workday and getting ready to dive into the ocean of tourists, part-goers, and stars that were about to wash into their city. DC is ready for the NBA's version of Freaknic. Today marks the beginning point of 4 days and 4 nights of basketball glitz, glamour and clamor. Traditionally, Thursday night is the slow night, the night when most everyone is arriving and taking in the 'sets', parties that are not official parties, just spots where everybody chills at. Apparently, no one told DC that. Tonight, riding through the Capitol's winding streets, we saw crowds of people outside clubs, restaurants and bars. Everyone from Kevin Garnett to Allen Iverson threw a 'set'. The fervor that is usually saved for Friday and Saturday night in past All Star Weekends was spilled all over George W. Bush's front lawn on the first official night of DC's ASW. Welcome to Chocolate City. As for my crew, we ended up at a spot called the Blue Room; a smallish bar with chic decor and beautiful people. ESPN's David Aldridge and Michael Wilbon were our hosts for the evening. Among those who glided in and out of the crowded rooms were actor Bill Bellamy, Stromile Swift (who looked a little overwhelmed by all the attention), and a host of media personalities. The room itself, stuffed to capacity with cats tryin' to see other cats and girls tryin' to look better than other girls, wasn't blue but another color altogether. That color changed continuously, like a mood ring, after each drink. For the most part DC's first ASW night was a moving party. Outside of the Blue Room we saw Rasheed Wallace and crew, only to join up with him again outside of a hotel. Rod Strickland chilled, along with Erick Strickland, on one sidewalk at 3am, holding court among honeys and other cats tryin' to look cool. The most defining moment, the one that proved DC was already off the hook, occurred when we drove past a gentleman's club, noticed damn near 5 police cars outside and asked 5-0 what was up. "This is part of our regular beat, man," DC's finest told us. "Y'all send five cars out here everynight?!?" "We gotta close it down, man." We were forced to guess what was going on behind those walls (tomorrow night we'll get there early). Driving back to our hotel we saw other crowds, small groups of people circling one tallish figure or another that loomed other the rest like skyscrapers. It was 4am before we all strolled through our hotel doors, realizing that this was just Day One. The message is clear, DC ain't no punk. This ASW will be one to put down in history. The events leading up to and surrounding the Slam Dunk, Rookie Game, and All Star game itself might supersede anything that went down in the past. Stay up everyday with the Diary. We promise to bring you what everyone else is afraid to reveal. And then take it one step further. Peace. Temptation Lobby It was ground zero. The lobby of the Grand Hyatt in downtown DC morphed from a quiet urban hotel into the epicenter of commotion. The NBA's elite had begun to arrive for the weekend's festivities and in their wake came the celebrities, groupies, freaks and fans that only the All-Stars can attract. It is an ongoing drama that has to be seen to be believed. And even then it's still hard to fathom. To set the scene, the lobby of the Grand Hyatt is immense. The general reception area within the front doors explodes into an expansive hall that rises hundreds of feet above the ground level. The rooms of the hotel circle high above the lobby, creating a canyon of windows and balconies that seem to frame the madness. It is below the NBA's banners that hang decoratively from the Hyatt's glass ceiling that the diversely bizarre crowd gathers to witness the chaos. From the early hours of the AM until the late afternoon of the PM, the lobby is jammed with heads that won't leave until Sunday. The flow of traffic is, and will be, constant. Camera crews sit ready to pounce on any player who dares to enter the fray. Yesterday, while Lamar Odom stood amongst the lunacy, no less than five of the one-eyed spies gathered around to record the captivating conversation he was having on his cell phone. Fact: when one spends hours in a hotel lobby, anything is considered exciting. After watching cats like Spree, Sheed, Stack, Eric Snow and C-Webb check in for the weekend, the collective focus of the mob becomes singular. Autographs. Little kids waiting for hours in the hotel's lobby for the chance to get a player's signature is very cute. Watching grown men wearing horrific Lakers hats that shouldn't have made it out of the 80s is not. With binders full of alphabetically labeled glossies, all day they run back and worth across the marble floors, leading the flow of autograph hounds to the latest victim. To them, the four-day stakeout is more than recreation; it has turned into a warped sense of self-worth. You can actually picture these autograph geeks bragging to their friends at night in the "I May in fact be the Biggest Loser on Earth" chat room. Besides the autograph seekers - weird and otherwise - the next largest demographic in the lobby society is without a doubt the women who gather with their fake nails, faker hair and three-sizes-too tight denims. For most of these wanna-be honeys, the opportunity for a quick autograph or an even quicker picture with a NBA All-Star is enough of a reason for the all-day vigil. For others, however, the purpose of gathering in the hotel's lobby is more about scoring - pun intended - a more intimate encounter with one of the L's best. As long as they're not trying to meet Allen Iverson, they might stand a chance. Yesterday, around 4:00 in the afternoon, AI emerged from the Hyatt's basement level on an escalator and sent a charge through the frenzied crowd. It was the Answer's first public appearance of the weekend and the deafening shrieks of a female who waited for his walk to the elevators gave an indication that this was the guy she had been waiting for. As Iverson's security force plowed through the human blockade, the woman strategically placed herself in the middle of the on-coming path of the Answer. The excitement was building in her face as she hopped with anticipation and approached Iverson with her pen and paper at the ready. At that exact moment, AI's escort zeroed in on the "object" blocking his path and literally tossed her out of the way. The woman flew back, almost landing on her horizontally in the hotel's souvenir store. For the record, she laughed off the encounter and didn't seem fazed by the abrupt ending to her dream. Also for the record, there isn't anything tougher than having someone whose sole responsibility is to literally heave people out of your way while you walk through a crowd. Some of the quality talent that walks though the confusion in the form of a celebrity, player's wife or girlfriend makes the stay in the lobby that much more tolerable. Jessica Simpson, escorted through by her bodyguard, was rocking tight black pants, a red coat and orange sunglasses. By the way, if you ever see her out in public, her security escort doesn't like it if you stare to the point of making her feel uncomfortable. All that being said, there is only one thing that's more painful than sitting in a hotel lobby for an entire day, battling autograph hounds and groupies just for the chance to get blown off by a 20-something millionaire: sitting in a hotel lobby all day to watch it all go down. Trust us; we know. WASHINGTON, D.C. - It was late Sunday night inside the chaotic, jam-packed Eastern Conference locker room, less than an hour after the completion of the 50th annual NBA All-Star Game, and Allen Iverson was trying to make his way back into the room through a tight entrance corridor. As usual, he had the full entourage trailing close behind him - security mashers, p.r. handlers, cell phone carrying posse members, fur-dripping honeys, rapper Lil' Bow Wow and his boys, and his ghetto-fabulous mom who was clutching AI's little son in one arm, and his freshly minted MVP trophy in the other. Iverson's crew was surrounded in this tight space by throngs of national and international media, many of whom have constantly labeled AI and his posse as the caricature for all that is wrong the sport. But for this rare moment, on this special night, the prism had been altered enough to reflect a new American gothic. The critics had been appeased, their sharp verbal weapons softened, and this was not so much a posse, but just one big happy, blinged-out family, celebrating the surprisingly good fortune of the NBA and Iverson. Sunday night, after enduring an entire weekend of negative criticism on the state of professional basketball and the direction the Generation X baller was capable of leading the game to, Iverson and the rest of his New Jack all-stars put on one of the most breathless, competitive and highly entertaining shows in the 50-year history of the NBA All-Star Game in a 111-110 down-to-the-wire showcase victory for the Eastern Conference stars. The game had everything commissioner David Stern wanted, needed, had to have to beat down the angry critics at his gate. It was compelling entertainment that muted the embarrassment of Saturday night's gawdawful Slam Dunk Contest, and reminded us all that the NBA is still the best game on earth, even when in the hands of Stern's inked-up, blinked-up, cornrowed, ghetto funkateers. Trailing by as many as 21 points in the early fourth quarter, the Eastern Conference stars - led by Iverson, Vince Carter, Stephon Marbury and old school veteran Dikembe Mutombo - locked down the Western stars with spectacular offense, and now get this, playoff-level defense to pull out the victory and leave the sellout crowd of 20,374 roaring. "It was like a championship game out there," Mutombo said. "I've been in the All-Star game the last seven years, and I've never seen anything like this." It was just the kind of game the NBA needed, particularly after a dreadful All-Star Saturday night, when the celebrated crown jewel of the weekend, the Slam Dunk Contest, was the most excruciatingly boring event in history. But the Sunday showcase dismissed all the talk from the NBA haters. "I'm just proud I'm a part of this league," said 76ers coach Larry Brown, who was responsible for putting a small, quick squad on the floor in the fourth quarter to counter the Western Conference's giant lineup of 7-foot Kevin Garnett, 6-11 Tim Duncan and 6-10 Chris Webber up front and the backcourt of 6-7 Kobe Bryant and 6-5 Jason Kidd. "I thought the game was a real great game for the league under the circumstances, this whole week, I've heard so much negative stuff about the direction of the league and all of these young players. I thought both teams tried to win and tried to play the right way, and it was a terrific thing to be a part of." What made this night so perfect was seeing the young boys rocking with the intensity of the old school and the flair of their own generation. Iverson was a zephyr, racing up and down the floor for a game-high 25 points. Marbury in his first All-Star appearance, not only bombed in those two critical three-point jumpers at the end of the game, but added some funky moves straight out of the Rucker league, when he looped a pass over a defender's head right back to himself. Vince Carter rocked the building with a three-sixty dunk and a windmill jam that were better than anything any of the generic contestants in the Saturday dunk off could ever dream of, and Kobe Bryant went right at Carter all fourth quarter. This was as worthy a fourth quarter show as anything from vintage NBA all-stars. Iverson scored 15 of his 25 points in the last night minutes, Marbury's two three-pointers came in the final 53 seconds, and every time Bryant touched the ball, he seemed to score with big jumper after big jumper. And to cap it all off, some of the game's greatest legends were right there to witness the show. Magic was sitting at courtside. MJ, president and part owner of the host Washington Wizards, was up in the owners box. Bill Russell, Earl Monroe, Julius Erving, Oscar Robertson, Bob Cousy, Bob Petit, Rick Barry, Walt Frazier, Hal Greer, Spencer Haywood, Elvin Hayes, Tiny Archibald and Willis Reed were all scattered throughout the crowd. And on this historic night, it was as if these legends could see that it was now safe to hand over the family business to the youngsters. "It was a dramatic change," said Iverson, "because you have different players playing now. We're never going to be able to replace Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, guys like Larry Bird. We're not going to be able to replace those guys. You're asking too much to try to replace something like that. They made us able to come with our own identity and our own image and try to be ourselves. We're not going to be able to put our feet in those shoes. [But] I think it's going to be beautiful for years to come, because you know every year it seems like we get somebody else with a different kind of God-given ability to add to this league." His name is Stefan Liwocha, which means nothing to you here in the United States. But across the Atlantic Ocean Stefan is considered the Marv Albert of German television. He is the German voice of pro hoops, as familiar in the Fatherland as Dick Stockton or Ernie Johnson is here in the U.S. Stefan and I were sitting together at dinner last night talking hoops, and what he told me got me thinking all sorts of things. "All the foreign reporters this week, we are talking to each other and we are a little confused," said Liwocha, who is not broadcasting this weekend, but instead writing for the German magazine Sport Bild. "In my country, the NBA is huge. All over Europe, all over the world, we are thinking the NBA is very good thing. But we get here this week and we read the USA Today and see "What's wrong with the NBA?" We pick up newspapers all over the city and magazines and we keep reading that something is wrong. So we were all sitting around a few days ago asking each other, 'What is wrong with us? Maybe we are crazy.'" Stefan Liwocha said he and all his friends in the foreign media here - more than 400 credentialed reporters from over 200 countries -- are not buying the hype. "I've decided that I'm not so crazy. I like what I see. I don't really understand what's wrong." By the way, he said this before the slam dunk contest. * The outfit TNT's Craig Sager wore during his sideline interviews for the 2 ball contest had me thinking about a show on another network. "Pimps up, Ho's down." * On Friday afternoon, the members of the league's competition and rules committee gathered to sort through all sorts of ideas on how to improve the product. Here's the good news. "There was absolutely no support for making zone defenses legal," deputy commissioner Russ Granik told me before the press conference. "That sort of surprised me, and no one was all that wild about eliminating the three-point shot either. But it was clear that we have to do something about improving the flow of the game. With all these coaches who love to run those one-man and two-man isolations, we agreed that we have to do something to reduce the incentive for them to do that." Among the most popular suggestions for rules changes: reduce the 10-second rule for bringing the ball up court to eight seconds, and institute a new five-second possession rule similar to college ball's, where a player loses possession if he is guarded tightely by a defender and can't get past him in five seconds. * The wicked verbal bullets have been flying at David Stern all week, sharp invectives from within the basketball community. They have been spraying criticism from long distance at the NBA commissioner and his league all week, but Saturday night, he was up close to the firing squad, in a room full of reporters ready to fire point blank at him. So how'd King David do? Well do you remember Keanu Reaves in "The Matrix" when the bullets were flying? That was Stern last night. No one touched him. * Here's something to watch for when the next collective bargaining agreement comes around. The age limit will be a major negotiating chip when the owners and players go at it again. Union boss Billy Hunter made that clear whenever anyone asked him why the union would not be in favor of instituting a minimum age limit for the NBA. Hunter made it clear that he would only be in favor of that if the owners would give the players something in return. "What I would say, as an incentive to keep kids in school, what we do is for each year they stay, eliminate a year of the rookie wage scale." WASHINGTON, D.C. - The basketball gods were watching last night, and they were not pleased. Late Saturday night, as I was weaving through all the thick traffic of stretch limos and party people jamming the streets of downtown Chocolate City, a little birdy whispered to me that His Airness had watched last night's Slam Dunk contest, and he was pissed. This is a true story. "That's the worse sht I've ever seen," Jordan told a close friend moments after the assortment of brand X dunkers stumbled and bungled their way through last night's event. Let's make this perfectly clear. This is no cute and clever dream sequence I'm relating to you. This was a legit conversation I am telling you about. CEO Jordan saw the same thing that the sellout crowd at the MCI Center witnessed. Even as he rose above the rim with a dramatic 360-degree slam, Stromile Swift could not generate enough energy inside the MCI Center last night to make folks rise out of their seats. Even as Corey Maggette did a running midair flip, popped up and threw down a rim-rattling slam, the crowd hardly was moved. Even when Jonathan Bender did his best Dr. J impression - gliding from the free throw line for a one-handed dunk - the crowd was unmoved, mainly because nearly every one of the entrants in this contest spent more time compiling ugly moments for an NBA blooper reel with missed dunks and bobbled slams. The crowd was not satisfied. The crowd was not intrigued. The crowd was not buying this generic Slam Dunk contest as authentic. Who could blame them, really, when they all saw Vince Carter sitting on the sidelines sporting a brown leather outfit instead of his purple Raptors uniform. Not when we all knew that Steve Francis was another spectator and Kobe Bryant, another of the league's most breathtaking aerialists was no where to be seen. I have been defending the NBA all week from legions of haters, who seem to think the league is headed for ruination. I have tried to point out that the NBA has as much pure, future Hall of Fame talent populating its ranks as it had 15 years ago, and that with a few tweaks here and there, can rebound from this slump. But what I saw last night was positively indefensible. Through no fault of their own, the B Team that was assembled last night put on one of the most painfully excruciating moments in the 16-year history of the Slam Dunk event. And in doing so raised so many issues about what is wrong with the All-Star weekend's signature skills event. WASHINGTON (AP)* - Desmond Mason likes to draw and paint. And now he's a slam dunk artist. The Seattle SuperSonics rookie won the NBA slam dunk contest Saturday night, beating 19-year-old DeShawn Stevenson of Utah and Charlotte's Baron Davis in the final round. Mason, the oldest competitor in the field of young leapers at age 23, had a soaring left-handed dunk on his first try of the final round to get a 45 out of a possible 50. Then he received a 44 with a two-handed cradle on a drive from the right side for a final-round 89. Stevenson, who won a high school dunk contest last year before going right to the NBA, finished with a final-round 85 and Davis a 77. Knowing he needed a big score to win, Davis tried to dunk with his headband covering his eyes on his final attempt but didn't hit the rim and managed just a 33. Not making the final round were Corey Maggette, Stromile Swift and Jonathan Bender. Davis also had one of the most creative dunks of the first round. He took a pass from Charlotte teammate David Wesley, who was shooting the approach with a video camera, and then dunked. It brought a 49 and propelled him into the second round. Mason got the second 49 of the opening round when, on his third try, he soared over teammate Rashard Lewis, who was bent at the waist with his warmup jersey pulled over his head. Then Stevenson earned a 49 by dunking after Utah teammate Bryon Russell threw the ball off the glass for him. Showing their nerves in their first appearance in the contest, Bender, Mason, Stevenson, and Swift all missed their first attempts. On his first try, Maggette unveiled the "Super Maggette" he promised a day earier. He raced down the court, stopped at the 3-point line and did a forward flip before gathering himself and then taking a pass from Clippers teammate Quentin Richardson to dunk. In the first round each player got three dunks - one had to include a teammate - with the lowest score excluded. The judges were Julius Erving, David Thompson, Nate Archibald, Danny Ainge and Kenny Smith. A maximum of 10 points can be assigned to each dunk by each judge.
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