Dwight Howard was Robbed

I watched the Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night, and I can't believe what they did to Dwight Howard.

I guess it's true, big guys will never win one of these things.

No matter what they do, they're always at a disadvantage versus midgets like Nate Robinson. Robinson is allowed to attempt the same dunk 42 times until he finally completes one. Dwight Howard nearly touches the top of the backboard, and dunks on the first try, and MJ gives him an 8.

Charles had it right, MJ is the Russian Judge.

If Dwight had leapt to the top of the backboard, and then did a backflip off of it and dunked on the way down, maybe MJ would have given him a 9.

Tyrus Thomas Has Angered the Basketball Gods

No matter whose side you're on, it's become apparent what the Basketball Gods think of Tyrus Thomas' statements about the slam dunk contest earlier this week.

Personally, I don't mind what Thomas said about only entering the dunk contest for "the paycheck."

Players are criticized all the time for not being honest but then when they are, we punish them for it.

Moreover, what you hardly see included in all the talk about Thomas' comments this week is that he also stated he was donating his winnings to his high school back in New Orleans.

Last night against Sacramento, Tyrus debuted a new cleanly shaven head, and got more playing time than he had so far on the Bulls entire road trip.

Well, the Basketball Gods decided that Thursday night on national television was the perfect place to unleash their punishment on Thomas.

Thomas was able to walk around on the ankle pretty easily later, but nobody knows for sure if the injury will affect his status in the dunk contest.

Tyrus Thomas Just Wants His Paycheck, Thank You

I wasn't even aware of the fact that Chicago Bulls rookie Tyrus Thomas was in the NBA's Slam-Dunk Contest at the All-Star game before I heard the news he was fined for what he said about it.

When asked by the Chicago Tribune's KC Johnson if Thomas was excited about participating in the contest, Tyrus was a little too honest about his feelings:

"Not really. I'm just going to go out there, get my check and call it a day..."I'm just into the free money. That's it. I'll just do whatever when I get out there."

The Bulls, General Manager John Paxson in particular, were not amused.

So when Tyrus Thomas receives his check for participating in the contest, it'll be $10,000 lighter cuz the Bulls fined him that amount for his comments.

"This fine is an appropriate response to the remarks Tyrus made concerning his participation in the Slam Dunk Contest. It is a poor reflection on Tyrus individually and a poor reflection on the Bulls organization and I am certainly disappointed."

The Slam Dunk Contest has sucked for a few years now, but the NBA is trying to return the event to its former glory. This year the NBA has gotten Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, and Michael Jordan to judge the event.

Something tells me the NBA isn't very happy about Tyrus' comments either. Whether or not the players association lets this fine stand remains to be seen.