NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest '08

The NBA has announced the roster for the 2008 All Star Slam Dunk contest. The dunkers will be defending champion Gerald Green, Dwight Howard, Rudy Gay, and Jamario Moon. The standout in the list has got to be Jamario Moon, a "rookie" for the Toronto Raptors. Moon has played for various basketball leagues since 2001, including a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Gerald Green won the Slam Dunk contest last year, with a windmill dunk over a table set as a prop. Green also dunked over fellow slam dunk participant Nate Robinson. Green was suppose to use a cardboard cut-out of Robinson as a prop, but Robinson ended up replacing the cardboard prop. Also worth mentioning is that Gerald Green did a Honey Dip dunk at the National High School Dunk Contest during his senior year. High school yo.

Many people feel the judges jobbed Dwight Howard on his dunks in last year's slam dunk contest. Dwight's 12'6" sticker dunk was creative and crowd pleasing, but the judges were not fully aware of what Dwight did during the dunk and gave Dwight low scores. The Association is giving Dwight another chance this year. Dwight, being a power dunker, lacks the finnese and hang-time needed for flashy dunks. He will need to rely on creative set-ups for his dunk, usually with a point guard assistant in a similar manner as Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash in the 2005 contest.

Next up is Rudy Gay, an impressive second year player for the Memphis Grizzlies. Rudy has game in him, with good all-around numbers, but I don't know if he has the showmanship for the flashy dunks. He certainly has the leaping ability to get up and throw it down, but does he has the charisma and personality to entertain the crowd before and after his dunks? I predict Rudy will use a lot of windmill and Rock the Cradle type dunks, as those are his favorite types of dunks.

The NBA "rookie" who has been playing organized basketball since 2001, Jamario Moon is the only participant here who has dunked as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. With the Globetrotters, Moon performed alley-oop dunks on a consistent basis, often with the pass coming from strange angles. I would not be surprised if Moon uses several different alley-oop dunks. Heading into the contest, Jamario Moon is my pick to win it this year.