Click here for a photo gallery of Green’s dunks.  
 
 
Speaking of the Cake, we learned a lot about Gerald Green this weekend, too. Namely, that his motivation/innovation comes only in short bursts. One dunk? A year to plot your title defense and you bring out one dunk? The rush of air on that candle put Green in a position to take the trophy. Instead he offered green socks, the false Statue of Liberty, the standard thru-the-legs fare … and that was it. And I have a feeling Green didn’t even frost the cupcake himself; that thing had Rashad McCants written all over it.  

 
 
Well, sure Dwight Howard is creative. Great. Has anyone noticed that he’s 7-feet tall?
It makes a difference.
In a better, saner world, no one over that 6-6/6-7ish range could enter a dunk contest. Period.
It’s that simple.
I was more impressed with Gerald Green. Love that cupcake thing.
 
Also from Ryan: 
As for Gerald Green, would that he spent as much time learning the
T-Wolves plays or figuring out how to defend the pick-and-roll as he
does conjuring up dunks involving edibles.
 
 
 
Now, because life is not fair, and also because the NBA has decided
(not unfairly) to anoint Dwight Howard as one of its new superstars,
Gerald did not win this year. But there was some real beauty, as well
as some impressively channeled melancholy, in his performance.
 
 
 
Even 1988 didn’t advance the event as much as Saturday’s dunk
contest did. The props, the teammates serving as magician’s assistants,
made it even more enjoyable. I loved the look on Rashad McCants’ face
as he climbed a ladder to carefully place a cupcake on the back of the
rim, then lit a candle. He took his job so seriously, like Jerome
holding Morris Day’s mirror.