By Michael Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 19, 2006; E06

HOUSTON, Feb. 18 -- An hour before he finished in second place in the three-point shootout behind Dallas's Dirk Nowitzki, Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas gave himself a nickname.

"I'm Mr. President," Arenas said, smiling as he walked through the tunnel at Toyota Center. "They tried to impeach me, but they couldn't. I'm here."

Arenas, an injury replacement for the All-Star Game and a last-minute replacement in the three-point shootout, called himself the "supersub" and "a ringer" Saturday morning. After a day filled with interviews, photo shoots and autograph appearances, Arenas admittedly got a little caught up in the swarm. "I'm enjoying every bit of this," he said.

Arenas fulfilled his goal of not finishing in last place despite finding out he was in the competition a little more than 24 hours earlier. Arenas, who replaced Phoenix's Raja Bell, went first in the competition and missed all five attempts from the first of five racks in the first round. He recovered to finish with 14 points to advance to the final round against Nowitzki, who also had 14, and Seattle's Ray Allen, who had 19 in the first round. "If I had got one or two in that first one, I could've won that easy," Arenas said.

In the second round, Arenas scored 16 points and drilled the final shot, which is called the money ball because it is worth two points. Arenas spun around and flashed three fingers to the fans in the stands. The celebration was short-lived, however, because Nowitzki followed with 18 to take the competition. Allen had 15.

"Of course, I'm still the president. The president just had a bad year," Arenas said. . . .

Nate Robinson, the 5-foot-8 rookie point guard for the New York Knicks, edged Philadelphia guard Andre Iguodala in a dunk-off, 47-46, to win the slam dunk title and honor 1986 champion Spud Webb in the process. Robinson scored two perfect 50s, including a slam in which he caught a pass from, and dunked over, the 5-7 Webb, who was wearing his old No. 4 Hawks jerseys.

"It's a great honor, a great privilege to be in my shoes right now," Robinson said.

Iguodala had the most exciting dunk of the night when teammate Allen Iverson tossed the ball behind the backboard and Iguodala caught it and soared underneath to jam it with his right hand. . . . Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade defeated LeBron James to win the skills challenge.

At his annual state of the league address, Commissioner David Stern said the league is dedicated to New Orleans and will go back to the city for the 2007-08 season.

"We plan on going through with the commitment to return to New Orleans, and, in fact, there's a lease, too, that requires it," Stern said.

Hurricane Katrina caused the Hornets to seek refuge in Oklahoma City this season and the league decided to renew the lease for next season, with the Hornets playing 35 games in Oklahoma City, with the other six in New Orleans. The Hornets will play three games in New Orleans this season -- March 8, 18 and 21 -- but the city has yet to recover from the storm.

Stern added that despite the success of the Hornets in Oklahoma City and the team's struggles in New Orleans, he didn't anticipate any circumstances that would change the league's plans.