High-flying Green slam dunk champ

LAS VEGAS -- Gerald Green blew away the competition with an assortment of creative dunks that touched on Celtics history and showed the world his extraordinary hops last night to become the 2007 Slam Dunk champion. It wasn't even close.

Green's four dunks, capped by an event-winning perfect 50 tomahawk slam while jumping over a table, wowed the crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center as he easily bested defender Nate Robinson in the dunk-off. Dwight Howard and Tyrus Thomas were first-round casualties.

Green's prize for winning: $35,000. And he did it all with a killer toothache, saying his next move was to see a dentist.

Green's repertoire featured an "Ode to Dee Brown" dunk in which he ripped off his uniform to reveal a "Brown 7" jersey. He changed into white sneakers similar to those worn by Brown, the 1991 dunk champion, and dutifully pumped them up. He then ascended over Robinson (who obligingly stood as a prop instead of a cardboard cutout that Green had ready) and rammed one home.

"I wanted to honor and repeat what he had done in '91," Green said of the Brown dunk. "I wanted to use Nate because he was the champ. I wanted to take it away from [him], so I'm going to use him as a prop. He was a good sportsman to stand in."

Green also paid tribute to the late Red Auerbach by wearing a headband with "2" on it, which is the retired number the Celtics gave to their former coach, general manager, president, and icon. "He was the heart, face, and soul of the Boston Celtics," Green said. Celtics captain Paul Pierce assisted Green on two dunks, the first of which was a soft toss off the side of the backboard and the other on a loop pass from behind the backboard.

Green won the first round with 95 points out of a possible 100. In the runoff against Robinson, he had his lowest-scored dunk of 41 (from the Pierce lob over the backboard) but then rebounded with his finale. No sooner had the ball gone through than judge Vince Carter had his "10" sign held aloft. Fellow judges Kobe Bryant, Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving, and Michael Jordan all followed suit.

"My No. 1 goal was to have fun and that's what I did," Green said.

NBA commissioner David Stern and union chief Billy Hunter made the announcement yesterday prior to the start of All-Star festivities. The deal also increases pensions for qualified players who retired after 1965 by almost 30 percent while increasing pensions for the previously eligible players who retired before 1965 by 50 percent.

But the new arrangement also covers players with three and four years of NBA service who retired before 1965. Those players previously needed five years of service to qualify, or a combination of five years of NBA and military service provided there was no interruption. Players who retired after 1965 -- the year the pension went into effect -- needed only three years of NBA service to qualify.

"I think it's great," Hunter said. "The pre-1965ers have been lobbying us for as long I've been here. I'm sure they're going to be rather ecstatic, especially those who never received a pension."

All of the uncovered pre-1965 players will get a lump sum of $20,000, Stern told a news conference. Those with three years of NBA service will get pensions of $10,800. Those with four years will get $14,400.

"This is just great news. I have goose bumps," John Ezersky, a former Boston Celtic (1948-50), said last night from his Walnut Creek, Calif., apartment. "I have been having a hard time paying the bills, so this sounds great. It's been impossible for me to make ends meet and it has been kind of rough. This will help a lot."

Ezersky's plight was typical of the 40 or so players whose cases have been pressed relentlessly by Bill Tosheff, one of the pre-1965 players now eligible. Ezersky, who turns 85 in three weeks, is a World War II veteran. He was in on the invasion of Normandy and continued on into Germany. But his military service did not count toward a pension because he waited a year after being discharged from the military to play professional basketball. He played 18 games for the 1948-49 Celtics and 16 games for the 1949-50 Celtics. But he retired in 1950 after three years (he played one season for the Providence Steam Rollers of the Basketball Association of America) and thus was not covered.

Kapono, the fourth-year pro who blossomed with the Heat this season, tied Mark Price's final-round record and fell just 1 point shy of Craig Hodges's overall mark with an impressive performance leading off the last round.

Memphis's Mike Miller was eliminated from the six-man competition despite posting an 18, the highest score by a first-round loser since 1996. Cleveland's Damon Jones and Dallas's Jason Terry also failed to advance from the first round. The final round wasn't nearly as competitive after Kapono led off with his 24, making 11 straight early shots and finishing with six baskets in his last eight.

Dwyane Wade defended his title in the Skills Challenge.