All-Star Moment: I HAVE ARRIVED

There should be little question which NBA youngster trademarked his identity this weekend, becoming a household name for even the most casual partakers of pro hoops.

You could argue Dwight Howard has been holding this breakout party for something like a year now. He's clearly The Second Coming of a young Shaquille O'Neal, replacing the goofiness with God and the cheeseburger chub with interlaced steel ropes. But for some reason, exiled in The Magic Kingdom, Howard hasn't really grasped the attention of the type of fan who only watches things like the All-Star Game and Miami vs L.A. on Christmas.

Until this weekend.

Howard destroyed the dunk competition with the craftiest missionary work since Brigham Young. He placed third but everyone talked about Howard's sticker shock, not Gerald Green's trophy. The smile on the sticker said it all - "I AM HERE."

Howard continued to solidify his legacy in the big show Sunday, with the biggest moment coming when he teabagged the rim on a putback dunk. Add in the thunderous alley-oop from future teammate Vince Carter and a casual block on a drunken Dwyane Wade's layup attempt some sap's layup attempt, and Howard was the second-best Easterner on the court. (EDIT: Yeah, Wade and Howard were on the same team.)

An honorable mention for Amare Stoudemire goes here. Eliminating the weekend part of the equation, Stoudemire wins this award. He did all that with Tracy McGrady playing point guard. What?