Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
This weekend, four of the NBA’s supreme high-flyers will take the court at the Staples Center to prove they are the league’s best dunker in Saturday’s Slam Dunk Contest. In what is always one of the most riveting annual demonstrations of athleticism and style in sports, Larry Nance Jr., Dennis Smith Jr., Donovan Mitchell, and Victor Oladipo will put their creativity and explosiveness on display to decisively hold the vaunted title of Slam Dunk Contest Champion. This year’s competition certainly has the potential to be exhilarating, and will hopefully be able to make up for last year’s disappointing lack of creativity and memorable moments.
Every year around this time, I spend hours on YouTube pouring over dunk contests of years past, reliving my favorite moments (and even some I did not see in my lifetime). This year, I put my thoughts to paper, once and for all decisively ranking the top-five NBA Slam Dunk Contest dunkers of all time. I have limited my list to dunkers who competed during my lifetime, starting with the 1996 Slam Dunk Contest. The following criteria was used to rank the dunkers (in order of importance): amplitude, creativity, style/ are, personal experience watching dunker, longevity, and best single dunk.
5. Gerald Green
Gerald Green is one of the most superhuman athletes in NBA history, and his performances in dunk contests were always electrifying. Green burst onto the scene in 2007 with his first jam off a feed from Paul Pierce off the side of the backboard before cocking the ball behind his head and throwing it down. On a personal note, this is the dunk I attempted to recreate most frequently on my Nerf hoop, revolutionizing my jam sessions throughout elementary school. Green capped off his 2007 performance with three more soaring slams, including leaping over reigning dunk champion, Nate Robinson, earning him the his first Slam Dunk Contest victory. All four of Green’s dunks featured the Celtics’ winger clearing the rim with his head. Green would return in 2008, but would unfortunately come up short to another member of this list. However, Green’s 2008 appearance provided us with the most creative dunk I have ever witnessed, as he successfully blew out a candle perched atop a cupcake while simultaneously throwing down a two-handed dunk. Green proved his bounce had survived several trades and five years of wear and tear with a stellar performance in the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest. Through his three Slam Dunk Contest appearances, Green proved himself as one of the most creative dunking minds while displaying his incredible bounce to solidify his place as an all-time great.
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
4. Dwight Howard
It is difficult to stand out as a tremendous dunker as a seven-footer, but big man Dwight Howard picked up the illustrious 2008 Slam Dunk Contest belt while displaying his physical marvels in three contests total. Howard’s signature dunk came in his 2008 contest victory, when he removed his Orlando Magic jersey to reveal a Superman cape. Howard caught an alley-oop from a foot inside the free-throw line, soared through the air for what seemed like an eternity, and quite literally threw the ball through the hoop for a perfect score of 50 from the judges.
TNT
personality Kenny Smith immediately proclaimed: “You win, you win young fella,” while the audience went bananas. How did Howard follow up one of the most physics-defying dunks in All-Star Weekend history? By collecting a self alley-oop, pushing the ball off the glass with his left hand, catching it with his right, and slamming it home, all in mid-air. Howard’s 2008 performance revived the hype of the Slam Dunk Contest, with people across the globe wondering how far the seven-footer could push the laws of gravity. To top his dunking career off, Howard slammed an alley-oop home on a 12-foot hoop in the 2009 Dunk Contest. Howard was irreplicable, authoritative, and mind-boggling, everything fans desire in a dunk contest participant.
3. Zach LaVine
Although I may be accused of both recency and Minnesota bias, Zach LaVine’s back-to-back Slam Dunk Contest victories in 2015 and 2016 were simply unbelievable. LaVine lived up to the hype in his 2015 debut, stunning the crowd with a reverse between-the-legs dunk to open the competition (my personal favorite of LaVine’s dunks and the wallpaper for my cell phone for several months following the competition). His second attempt, an around-the-back jam, earned him another perfect score. LaVine closed out the win to hoist the Dunk Contest trophy in his rookie season, but the real reworks would come in his match-up against capable opponent Aaron Gordon. To the many that complained that Gordon deserved to win the 2016 Slam Dunk contest I sim- ply remind you of this fact; LaVine nailed both a windmill dunk and a between-the-legs jam leaping from the free-throw line in back-to-back attempts. This might have been the proudest I have ever been to be a Minnesotan in my life, and certainly was one of the most impressive displays of athleticism by any human being ever. Hopefully reconstructive anterior collateral ligament (ACL) surgery will not rob the world of more trips to the Dunk Contest from LaVine, who is a perfect two for two in his two All-Star Weekend visits.
2. Vince Carter
Vince Carter comes in at number two on my list with just one appearance in a Slam Dunk Contest, proving how incredibly breathtaking and revolutionary his victory in 2000 truly was. It takes a lot to force Kenny Smith to exclaim “let’s go home!” after just one dunk, but Carter’s opener in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest certainly warranted the ecstatic response. Carter explodes towards the hoop, spins 360 degrees against the grain, and throws down a clean windmill jam to get NBA stars from Kevin Garnett to Shaquille O’Neal out of their seats. Carter closed out the competition by nailing four more glorious dunks, including a perfect score on his trademark “honeydip” where he put his entire forearm in the basket and hung onto the rim with his elbow. Carter’s 2000 exhibition was so transcendent that media outlets continue to publish extensive analyses of that night (see story on
The Ringer
this week), labelling it as the most dominant Dunk Contest performance of all time. It’s simply a hard claim to argue, with an absurd amount of innovation, style, and amplitude to combine for the perfect evening of high-flying dunking. Unfortunately, Carter would never return to the Slam Dunk Contest, arguably making his lone appearance all the more memorable and fascinating.
1. Jason Richardson
Although Warriors’ guard Jason Richardson was never a real standout player in the NBA, his ability to mesmerize viewers in three NBA Slam Dunk Contest appearances was undeniable. Coming off the Oscar-snub “Like Mike” movie, I tuned into my first dunk contest in 2002, mainly I will admit, to see Bow Wow perform during the festivities. With the 2002 dunking title on the line, Richardson uncorked what today remains my favorite dunk contest effort. Needing a score of 45 to secure victory, Richardson tossed himself the ball, collected it with both hands, and performed a two-handed windmill while facing away from the basket to bring the whole arena to its feet. It is impossible to describe the are that Richardson executes this dunk with, so I thoroughly recommend searching the clip on YouTube; I promise, it will be time well spent. The world was treated to another all-time great performance in 2003 when Richardson repeated as Slam Dunk champion. Every dunk Richardson threw can be described by the word tattooed on his left arm: “nasty.” Richardson needed a perfect score to win the contest on his final dunk, and delivered on a left-handed, reverse between-the-legs jam that was oozing style and amplitude. Although he was not able to emerge as champion in 2004, Richard- son’s off-the-glass, between-the-legs self-alley-oop (what a mouthful) was a dunk no one had ever dreamed of witnessing. Richardson may not be the most recognizable name in Dunk Contest history, but his style, explosiveness off the floor, and in-air creativity remain unparalleled.
