Richardson's 'Nique-ness, Combo Jam Earn Title

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 9 (Ticker) -- With one last spectacular jam, Jason
Richardson finished off the best day of his basketball life -- and perhaps
the worst Slam Dunk Contest ever.

Richardson's acrobatic finishing flush edged fellow rookie Gerald Wallace and
gave him the title of NBA's best dunker, which carries less and less prestige
each year.

It wasn't Richardson's fault. The athletic guard of the Golden State Warriors
was only following the rules, which change every year and thoroughly confuse
fans and competitors alike.

Richardson began the day by scoring 26 points and winning MVP honors in The
'got milk?' Rookie Challenge. Afterward, he said he still had some energy
left for the NBA.com Slam Dunk presented by RealOne. He didn't need much.

"It's a busy day," Richardson said. "Some of the goals I had in mind going
into the weekend, I was trying to approach it as a business-like trip, but I
still had a lot of fun."

The competition was reduced to four entrants and was very disjointed, with
dunkers allowed to receive passes from teammates on some dunks and having to
spin a "wheel of fortune" that had them imitate great dunkers of the past on
others.

Between the new rules, overanalysis, interviews after every dunk and several
misses, there was not much to ooh and aah about -- until Richardson's final
dunk, which gave him an 85-80 win.

Beginning from the perimeter, Richardson tossed the ball into the air, raced
toward the basket, leaped and caught the ball after it had bounced. He turned
away from the rim and threw down a two-handed hammer windmill, completing a
difficult dunk almost flawlessly.

"It was only my second time doing that dunk, and I think it came out pretty
good," he said.

The winning dunk came after Richardson tried a between-the-legs jam and
botched it. However, he never tried to dunk it and was awarded another
attempt.

"They tried to say it was an attempt, but it wasn't because it didn't go
towards the basket," Richardson said.

Richardson received 49 points -- one shy of a perfect score -- from the
five-judge panel that included former dunking deacons Darryl Dawkins and
Julius Erving, TV analyst Kenny Smith, former scoring champion George Gervin
and an online fan vote.

"It's a great feeling, winning a contest in front of a legend like (Erving),"
Richardson said.

Although the contest was interactive, it was far from interesting.

Richardson advanced by dethroning defending champion Desmond Mason of the
Seattle Sonics, 98-84. After spinning the wheel, he virtually mirrored a
classic dunk by Dominique Wilkins and received a perfect score of 50.

Wallace, a 19-year-old swingman for the Sacramento Kings, eliminated Steve
Francis of the Houston Rockets, 84-77. Wallace missed a pair of dunks,
replacing one, and Francis missed one while looking very unimaginative.

Wallace built his lead in the final round by dunking from just inside the
foul line and attempting a Carteresque arm-in-the-rim job. On Richardson's
first dunk in the final round, he took off from well inside the foul line and
almost didn't make it.

SEMIFINALS

Jason Richardson def. Desmond Mason, 98-84
Gerald Wallace def. Steve Francis, 84-77

FINALS

Jason Richardson def. Gerald Wallace, 85-80