page_title: 2009 NBA All-Star Game
section_title: Slam Dunk Contest
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 NBA All-Star Game / All-Star Weekend / Slam Dunk Contest
caption_attribution_description: English: w:Nate Robinson playing with the w:New York Knicks
context_page_description: The 2009 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 15, 2009 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the Phoenix Suns. The game was the 58th edition of the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and was played during the 2008–09 NBA season. This was the third time that Phoenix had hosted the All-Star Game; the city had previously hosted the event in 1975 and 1995. Phoenix was awarded the All-Star Game in an announcement by commissioner David Stern on November 8, 2007. The other reported contenders for the 2009 contest were Air Canada Centre at Toronto, Madison Square Garden at New York City, Oracle Arena at Oakland and Bradley Center at Milwaukee.
  The All-Star Weekend began on Friday, February 13, 2009 with the Celebrity Game and the Rookie Challenge, a game between the league's best rookies and second-year players. On Saturday, the event continued with the All-Star Saturday Night, which featured the Shooting Stars Competition, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest. The H–O–R–S–E Competition was first introduced and was played before the All-Star Saturday Night.
context_section_description: The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest was contested by defending champion Dwight Howard, 2006 champion Nate Robinson, 2005 contestant J. R. Smith and rookie Rudy Fernández. Fernández won the online voting on NBA.com to determine the fourth contestants, beating fellow rookies Joe Alexander and Russell Westbrook. This was the first time a dunk contestant was chosen by the fans. Fernández also became the first ever international player to participate in the contest. Smith was named as a late replacement for Rudy Gay, who was forced to withdraw from the contest due to injury.
  Each contestant performed two slam dunks in each round. The two best contestants in the first round, as rated by the panel of judges, advanced to the final round, where the winner was determined by fan voting. The panel of judges for this year contest consists of five former Phoenix Suns players, the inaugural Slam Dunk champion Larry Nance, 1992 champion Cedric Ceballos, 1987 All-Star Game MVP Tom Chambers and three-time All-Stars, Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle.
  Dwight Howard began his title defence with two 50-point dunks to advance to the final round with a perfect score. One of his dunks employed a 12-foot high hoop. Howard also used a prop phone booth to change into his Superman cape before completing the dunk on the 12-foot hoop. Nate Robinson also advanced to the final round with 87 points, beating Smith and Fernández who had 85 and 84 points respectively.
  In the final round, Robinson changed his uniform into the New York Knicks' green uniform originally designed for Saint Patrick's Day. The green uniform symbolized  Kryptonite, a fictional substance known to have detrimental effects on Superman. The Krypto-Nate vs. Superman theme continued when Robinson, in his final dunk, used a green basketball and leaped over the 6'11" Howard who wore his Superman cape. Robinson ended up with 52% of fan vote to win his second dunk title. He joined Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner and Jason Richardson as the only two-time winners of the contest.
  Unable to participate due to injury. J. R. Smith was named as a replacement for Rudy Gay.
caption: Nate Robinson won the 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.
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