NBA ROUNDUP \ All-Star news and notes

Saturday events: Boston's Gerald Green capped All-Star Saturday with an acrobatic leap over a table to win the dunk contest, and Miami's Jason Kapono fell just short of an event record while winning the 3-Point Shootout. Green, the Celtics' 21-year-old swingman, performed his two most memorable dunks in the first round before that lengthy final leap over a 3-foot table bearing the All-Star game logo for a windmill jam and perfect 50 score to cap an event that gets tougher to revolutionize every year. Green and Robinson eliminated Orlando's Dwight Howard and Chicago's Tyrus Thomas in the first round, even though the 6-foot-11 Howard came up with the most original move. While catching a high bounce pass from teammate Jameer Nelson for a right-handed slam, Howard reached nearly to the top of the backboard to slap a sticker bearing his face onto the glass -- 12 feet, 6 inches off the ground, according to Nelson. Kapono beat Gilbert Arenas and Dirk Nowitzki with a final-round 24 -- just one shy of the event record. Kapono, the fourth-year pro who finally blossomed with the Heat this season, tied Mark Price's final-round record and fell just one point shy of Craig Hodges' overall mark with an impressive performance leading off the last round. After one of the toughest opening rounds in the event's history, the final wasn't terribly competitive after Kapono led off with his 24. He made 11 straight early shots and finished with six baskets in his last eight, earning ecstatic high-fives from Miami teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning after making 19 of 25 shots overall.
Hardaway apologizes again: Former NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway apologized again Sunday for his anti-gay remarks, telling a Miami television station that he "didn't mean" to say what he said in a South Florida radio interview last week. Hardaway, in an interview at his home with CBS affiliate WFOR, acknowledged he made a major mistake by saying "I hate gay people" when asked how he would react to having a gay teammate. "I don't hate gay people," Hardaway said. "I'm a goodhearted person. I interact with people all the time. ... I respect people. For me to say 'hate' was a bad word, and I didn't mean to use it." Hardaway made the anti-gay comments Wednesday, a week after John Amaechi became the first former NBA player to reveal his homosexuality. Hardaway said he didn't believe gay players should share a locker room with heterosexual players, then added, "I don't like gay people, and I don't like to be around gay people." On Sunday, he acknowledged "that was very bad." His remarks quickly drew criticism from both the NBA and several gay and lesbian groups, and Hardaway said the firestorm surprised him. "It was like, you know, I had killed somebody. ... I never knew that this was going to escalate that high," Hardaway said. Hardaway was banished from some NBA-sanctioned appearances he was scheduled to make in Las Vegas as part of the All-Star weekend. He also lost at least one of his endorsement deals, and he ordered his name dropped from advertising at a car wash he owns in Miami, saying he made that decision to ensure the safety of his employees. Hardaway played parts of 13 NBA seasons with Golden State, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Indiana, and played in five All-Star games.
Associated Press
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