Looking a bit like a leprechaun with a supernatural vertical leap, Nate Robinson, all 5-foot-9 of him, clears 6-11 Dwight Howard on his way to reclaiming the NBA's slam dunk crown in Phoenix on Saturday night.

There's never been a doubt about Nate Robinson's athletic ability, which ranges from the otherworldy to the simply astounding.

Not since he dazzled folks in the Tacoma Dome back in 2002 and won MVP honors in leading Rainier Beach High to a rout of Mercer Island in the Class 3A state final.

And then started at cornerback for the University of Washington football team the following autumn.

The human Jumping Jack was back at it again Saturday, upstaging Superman Dwight Howard in the NBA slam dunk contest. The diminutive Robinson (listed generously at 5 feet, 9 inches) vaulted over the 6-11 Howard in the evening's signature dunk, winning the plaudits of the fans, who gave him 52 percent of the vote.

“Dwight was a great sport letting me dunk over him,” said Robinson as quoted in the Associated Press story.

It was the second dunk crown for Robinson, who also won in 2006.

Howard, the defending champion, slipped into a phone booth (don't see many of them anymore) and returned clad in a Superman cape for a show-stopping early dunk.

“I’m not mad or anything,” Howard told the AP. “He did a good job. I guess the shorter man will win in a dunk contest because it looks real hard for him. It looks easy for me.”