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Slam Dunk Competition Ready for All-Stars

Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks, the 2005 Slam Dunk champion, will return to defend his title in this year`s Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk competition. The competition will be held on NBA All-Star Saturday Night, which will presented by AOL, Feb. 18th, at the Toyota Center in Houston. But guess who will also be there? Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers, rookies Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks, and Hakim Warrick of the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grand Prize? $60,000 in prize money, with $35,000 going to the winner. Second place is worth $22,500, third place and fourth place will receive $16,125 each.

The judges of this year`s Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk competition will
include Hall of Famer and former Rockets star Clyde `The Glide` Drexler,
who helped lead his hometown team to the NBA title in 1995, Hall of Famer
and former Rockets and University of Houston star Elvin Hayes, Hall of
Famer and former Houston Rockets star Moses Malone, the third-leading
rebounder and fifth-leading scorer in NBA history, former Rockets star and
current TNT analyst Kenny Smith, and former Houston Rockets head coach Rudy
Tomjanovich, who led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA titles in 1993-94 and
1994-95.

The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 19th, will air live on TNT, Rogers
Sportsnet and ESPN Radio at 8 p.m. EST. The game will also be telecast in
215 countries and broadcast on NBA. The Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk will be broadcast live nationally as part of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by AOL, which will also feature the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, RadioShack Shooting Stars and PlayStation(r) Skills Challenge. NBA All-Star Saturday Night will be televised live nationally on TNT in the United States and on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada at 8 p.m. ET.