Nate Robinson Wins the 2010 NBA Slam Dunk Competition in Down Year

Nate Robinson won the 2010 Slam Dunk Competition on Saturday night. The 2010 NBA Slam Dunk Competition started out very slow though, and it took the first dunk by Nate Robinson to actually get the crowd going. The hope was that the four competitors were holding something back for the later rounds. DeMar DeRozan gave a great second dunk to spice it up. They both advanced to the second round because of it.

The 2010 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was an attempt by Nate Robinson to win his third Slam Dunk Title. The other three participants all wanted to knock him off, but the big talk of the night was that there were many superstars passing on the opportunity to participate. LeBron James had said he would participate this year, but decided not to accept the invite when it came down to it.

The rules were that each contestant got two dunks, with the two highest scores in the first round advancing to a face-off for the Slam Dunk Title. One of the addition rules was that each contestant had to have a teammate help with one of the dunks to either set them up or toss them the ball. There was also a dunk-in this year between Eric Gordon and DeMar DeRozan to allow one of them to compete.

The finals between DeMar DeRozan and Nate Robinson put the rookie DeRozan against the two time Slam Dunk champion. Robinson missed his first two attempts and then settled for something easier, while DeRozan jumped over a teammate for his first dunk. In the end though, many fans will have called this a very boring slam dunk contest.

2010 NBA Slam Dunk Competitors

Nate Robinson, New York Knicks
Gerald Wallace, Charlotte Bobcats
Shannon Brown, Los Angeles Lakers
DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors

2010 Slam Dunk Competition First Round Results

DeMar DeRozan: 42 and 50 for 92 total

Shannon Brown: 37 and 41 for 78 total

Gerald Wallace: 38 and 40 for 78 total

Nate Robinson: 44 and 45 for 89 total

2010 Slam Dunk Competition Final Round Results

Nate Robinson vs. DeMar DeRozan was decided by fan vote. The fans selected Nate Robinson.:

References:

Three_Point_Contest_Results

2010_Skills_Challenge_Results

2010 All-Star Starters

2010 All-Star Reserves

Rookie Challenge Game Results

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