How To Win In Vegas

Prepare "It has to be done ahead of time. Last year I got Spud Webb [the 1986 winner, to work with me] in the practice gym for 20 minutes before the contest."
—Nate Robinson (left), 2006 champ

Talk to Arenas " Gilbert comes up with crazy ideas. He wanted me to do a dunk nobody else could do. He would say something outrageous, and I would try to do it my own way. I got a lot of my ideas from him."
—Jason Richardson, 2002 and '03 champ

Warm-ups don't matter "I could barely dunk in practice. But you get out in front of the fans, you get that adrenaline going and you jump a lot higher."
—Fred Jones, 2004 champ

Know your limits "My hands have since grown, but at the time I couldn't palm the ball. I couldn't do stuff that Mike [Jordan] and Doc [Dr. J] and those guys used to do. I couldn't take off from the free throw line. I just had to cup the ball and do what I had been doing since high school."
—Kobe Bryant, 1997 champ

Save trash-talking for the game "Just shut up and make your dunks. That's my motto."
—Smith

MASTER CLASS WITH LARRY BIRD

3-POINTERS!

If you're Larry Bird—who won the three-point shootout three times—remind people Bird famously walked into the locker room before the 1986 contest and said, "Which one of you guys is going to finish second?'"

Adjust your shot "It's more of a set shot. I'd used more legs in a game. Even on spot-ups in a game, I would sort of leap forward, but not there."

Settle in "If I got through the first round, I thought I was going to win it. The first round is toughest because it's loud in there and there's a lot of anticipation. The further I went, the more rhythm I had and it was easier."