Dwight Howard did it again. Earlier this week, YouTube video showed the dunk Howard planned in the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk finals, if he hadn't been robbed by fuddy-duddy judges. He calls is "Kiss the Rim" because that's almost literally what he does.

In the words of my buddy Adam, BTP's official NBA correspondent:

We should all just agree on this now: LeBron may get the press, Wade may have a ring, but Howard is the most likeable megastar of his generation.

I'll comment that I think that however this video leaked, it's very very smart.

To some extent, sports are the part of society furthest along in "YouTube-ization." Highlight packages on SportsCenter have been emphasizing the flashy and the immediate in a way similar to short web clips for years.

Some have cited this trend as the downfall of sport. I think it's just an added way to appreciate sports. Solid fundamentals are a vehicle to competition. For decades, that's all sports were about - winning and losing.

Now, we're seeing a relatively new strain of sports fandom: sheer appreciation. We don't awe at Dwight Howard's dunk because it makes him a better player at winning the game of 5-on-5 basketball. We awe at it because it's a simply astonishing athletic feat. In short, it's just cool.

This appreciation of the aesthetics of sport is also seen in the way most of the new ESPN-style X Games are judged competitions, rather that first-past-the-line, score-more-points style confrontations. Think about the snowboard halfpipe. Shaun White just looks cooler. That's why he wins.

Dwight Howard can kiss the rim. That's why he wins.