Tracy McGrady
Height: 6'8"
Year: 2000
Round 1, Dunk 3
Score: 50
From his very first dunk it was obvious that no one was going to beat Vince Carter in 2000. That said, as much as VC was easily the clear-cut winner, it was still probably the strongest three-man battle we've ever seen. There have been many great two-man battles over the years, where the two strongest guys are obviously head and shoulders above the rest of the field and then battle each other to the bitter end in the finals (MJ vs Nique in '88, Brown vs Kemp in '91, J.Rich vs Mason in '03, Nate vs Iggy in '06 and Nate vs Dwight in '09). But the only time a third guy entered the mix was in 2000. Still don't believe me? Look at this dunk and then consider that it was only good enough to get McGrady 3rd place (it easily would have won the previous six contests prior to this one).
#19
Desmond Mason
If you've ever tried to do an East Bay dunk, you know how hard it really is. I spent a good long while working it out on a 9-foot hoop back in the day. Only, for me, the key was cheating the ball under the leg as you were jumping, then making the rest of the motion on your way up before barely squeezing it through at the height of the jump. And even then it was really tough to do. Here, Mason shows the ball with his right hand on his way up before swapping it under the leg to the left hand then dunking it. The very idea of this makes a 17-year-old-Travis, cheating the ball under the leg during the takeoff on a 9-foot hoop look like a complete ass.
#18
Michael Jordan
Height: 6'6"
Year: 1985
Round 3, Dunk 3
Score: 49
All dunks look better in an instant replay. Unfortunately back in 1985, instant reply was pretty much just hitting variable speed on the BetaCam deck and getting a choppy viewing of the same angle you just watched, only a little bit slower than before. Which makes this a dunk that would benefit the most from today's replay technology and additional camera angles. Not only does Mike get ridiculous hang time, but he manages to rock the baby once before tucking it in his arm and feezing it there (seemingly pausing in mid-air) as he passes under the basket to finish on the reverse side, never once touching the ball with his off hand. Truly a thing of beauty.
(UPDATE: In light of my revelation during the posting of the Number 1, I now feel I should offer a great alternate to this dunk, one that pretty much proves my entire replay argument from this entry. This one is from the second round in 1988 and it's essentially the same dunk, although I ranked it lower because he doesn't quite cradle the ball as well as he did in '85, but still, the sheer height he gets on this one, and how he almost hits his head and could stick his entire elbow in the rim if he wanted to, merits it's inclusion on this list.)
#17
Gerald Green
Height: 6'8"
Year: 2007
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 48
Speaking of replays, here's a dunk that proves my point completely. It's certainly not bad during the first, live viewing - it was, after all, the first time anyone had taken a lob off the side of the backboard, and he still does do a two-handed-windmill to polish it off. But when you see that last reply, the one that because it's such a low angle, it gives the illusion that his whole chin is above the rim... well, that replay makes it look like the greatest dunk ever performed.
#16
Dwight Howard
Height: 6'11"
Year: 2008
Round 1, Dunk 2
Score: 50
This was the first Superman dunk. A gimmick that Dwight allegedly did on a whim, after seeing this cheap kids cape at a store earlier in the day. And it was so popular, that the moniker has stuck with him ever since. So, you might think that would mean it was an obvious and unanimous great dunk, beloved by all. Only it's not. In fact, it's probably the most polarizing dunk in competition history. Most agree that it's just a flat out great dunk (look how far back he takes off from...), but there are still those that feel that because his hand never made contact with the rim, that it's technically not a dunk at all (I have a sneaking suspicion Mr. Those-Aren't-Real-360's might be one of these people). But I would argue that if it's not a dunk, then what is it, a layup? Please... It's a dunk. And a great one at that.
#15
Nate Robinson
Height: 5'9"
Year: 2006
Round 2, Dunk 2
Score: 50
A year before this, Josh Smith invented the 'Tribute Dunk' when he paid homage to Dominique Wilkins by wearing his jersey and doing a classic 'Nique-inspired windmill. It was nice, and earned him a well-deserved 50, but Nate took it a step further. He jumped over the man that paved the way for him, and every other little-man dunker in history. It's a great dunk on it's own, but factor in the respect of honouring Spud while doing it, and it was taken to a whole other level.
#14
J.R. Smith
Height: 6'6"
Year: 2005
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 45
At this point in contest history, people were starting to grow tired of the between-the-legs dunks. Jason Richardson had perfected it the year before, and had even tried to go a step further with what is probably the greatest missed dunk in contest history. People were looking for something new, and Earl Smith III gave it to them. Behind-the-back was a pretty sexy alternative, indeed.
#13
Vince Carter
Height: 6'6"
Year: 2000
Round 2, Dunk 1
Score: 50
Speaking of dunks that no one had ever seen before... Vince had pretty much already won the competition in most people's eyes heading into the final round of 2000. Then he pulled this one out of his bag of tricks, and sealed the deal. Allegedly he got the idea from watching the mascots do their trampoline dunks, and decided to try it, only without the trampoline. While his other dunks were great, they were still just variations on dunks we had already seen. This, on the other hand, nobody had ever seen before.
#12
Jason Richardson
This one wasn't just a great dunk, but also a timely one. Desmond Mason had just done the dunk seen in the number 19 spot on this list, and the announcers had already crowned him the winner. They didn't think there was anything Richardson could do to top what Mason had done, which made it all the more shocking when he pulled this beauty out. Needless to say, it brought the house down, and J. Rich became the first guy to successfully defend his title since Jordan in '88.
#11
Andre Iguodala
Height: 6'6"
Year: 2006
Round 2, Dunk 1
Score: 50
Iguodala took the J.R. Smith dunk (number 14) and added the bounce. This took the difficulty rating up by about a hundred notches, and added to my firm belief that, while Nate is a great dunker, and certainly deserved the win in '09, Iggy got absolutely robbed in this contest. That said, I'm a little torn over whether or not he benefits from making the dunk so smooth and fluid. One would think that it obviously should, except there's something about the way that J.R. seems to lose the ball, and needs to cradle it a bit in his wrist in order to get it through that makes it a little bit more sexy. Still not as good of a dunk technically... but just a little bit sexier.
Height: 6'8"
Year: 2000
Round 1, Dunk 3
Score: 50
From his very first dunk it was obvious that no one was going to beat Vince Carter in 2000. That said, as much as VC was easily the clear-cut winner, it was still probably the strongest three-man battle we've ever seen. There have been many great two-man battles over the years, where the two strongest guys are obviously head and shoulders above the rest of the field and then battle each other to the bitter end in the finals (MJ vs Nique in '88, Brown vs Kemp in '91, J.Rich vs Mason in '03, Nate vs Iggy in '06 and Nate vs Dwight in '09). But the only time a third guy entered the mix was in 2000. Still don't believe me? Look at this dunk and then consider that it was only good enough to get McGrady 3rd place (it easily would have won the previous six contests prior to this one).
Desmond Mason
Height: 6'5"
Year: 2003
Round 2, Dunk 1
Score: 50
If you've ever tried to do an East Bay dunk, you know how hard it really is. I spent a good long while working it out on a 9-foot hoop back in the day. Only, for me, the key was cheating the ball under the leg as you were jumping, then making the rest of the motion on your way up before barely squeezing it through at the height of the jump. And even then it was really tough to do. Here, Mason shows the ball with his right hand on his way up before swapping it under the leg to the left hand then dunking it. The very idea of this makes a 17-year-old-Travis, cheating the ball under the leg during the takeoff on a 9-foot hoop look like a complete ass.
Michael Jordan
Height: 6'6"
Year: 1985
Round 3, Dunk 3
Score: 49
All dunks look better in an instant replay. Unfortunately back in 1985, instant reply was pretty much just hitting variable speed on the BetaCam deck and getting a choppy viewing of the same angle you just watched, only a little bit slower than before. Which makes this a dunk that would benefit the most from today's replay technology and additional camera angles. Not only does Mike get ridiculous hang time, but he manages to rock the baby once before tucking it in his arm and feezing it there (seemingly pausing in mid-air) as he passes under the basket to finish on the reverse side, never once touching the ball with his off hand. Truly a thing of beauty.
(UPDATE: In light of my revelation during the posting of the Number 1, I now feel I should offer a great alternate to this dunk, one that pretty much proves my entire replay argument from this entry. This one is from the second round in 1988 and it's essentially the same dunk, although I ranked it lower because he doesn't quite cradle the ball as well as he did in '85, but still, the sheer height he gets on this one, and how he almost hits his head and could stick his entire elbow in the rim if he wanted to, merits it's inclusion on this list.)
Gerald Green
Height: 6'8"
Year: 2007
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 48
Speaking of replays, here's a dunk that proves my point completely. It's certainly not bad during the first, live viewing - it was, after all, the first time anyone had taken a lob off the side of the backboard, and he still does do a two-handed-windmill to polish it off. But when you see that last reply, the one that because it's such a low angle, it gives the illusion that his whole chin is above the rim... well, that replay makes it look like the greatest dunk ever performed.
Dwight Howard
Height: 6'11"
Year: 2008
Round 1, Dunk 2
Score: 50
This was the first Superman dunk. A gimmick that Dwight allegedly did on a whim, after seeing this cheap kids cape at a store earlier in the day. And it was so popular, that the moniker has stuck with him ever since. So, you might think that would mean it was an obvious and unanimous great dunk, beloved by all. Only it's not. In fact, it's probably the most polarizing dunk in competition history. Most agree that it's just a flat out great dunk (look how far back he takes off from...), but there are still those that feel that because his hand never made contact with the rim, that it's technically not a dunk at all (I have a sneaking suspicion Mr. Those-Aren't-Real-360's might be one of these people). But I would argue that if it's not a dunk, then what is it, a layup? Please... It's a dunk. And a great one at that.
Nate Robinson
Height: 5'9"
Year: 2006
Round 2, Dunk 2
Score: 50
A year before this, Josh Smith invented the 'Tribute Dunk' when he paid homage to Dominique Wilkins by wearing his jersey and doing a classic 'Nique-inspired windmill. It was nice, and earned him a well-deserved 50, but Nate took it a step further. He jumped over the man that paved the way for him, and every other little-man dunker in history. It's a great dunk on it's own, but factor in the respect of honouring Spud while doing it, and it was taken to a whole other level.
J.R. Smith
Height: 6'6"
Year: 2005
Round 1, Dunk 1
Score: 45
At this point in contest history, people were starting to grow tired of the between-the-legs dunks. Jason Richardson had perfected it the year before, and had even tried to go a step further with what is probably the greatest missed dunk in contest history. People were looking for something new, and Earl Smith III gave it to them. Behind-the-back was a pretty sexy alternative, indeed.
Vince Carter
Height: 6'6"
Year: 2000
Round 2, Dunk 1
Score: 50
Speaking of dunks that no one had ever seen before... Vince had pretty much already won the competition in most people's eyes heading into the final round of 2000. Then he pulled this one out of his bag of tricks, and sealed the deal. Allegedly he got the idea from watching the mascots do their trampoline dunks, and decided to try it, only without the trampoline. While his other dunks were great, they were still just variations on dunks we had already seen. This, on the other hand, nobody had ever seen before.
Jason Richardson
Height: 6'6"
Year: 2003
Round 2, Dunk 2
Score: 50
This one wasn't just a great dunk, but also a timely one. Desmond Mason had just done the dunk seen in the number 19 spot on this list, and the announcers had already crowned him the winner. They didn't think there was anything Richardson could do to top what Mason had done, which made it all the more shocking when he pulled this beauty out. Needless to say, it brought the house down, and J. Rich became the first guy to successfully defend his title since Jordan in '88.
Andre Iguodala
Height: 6'6"
Year: 2006
Round 2, Dunk 1
Score: 50
Iguodala took the J.R. Smith dunk (number 14) and added the bounce. This took the difficulty rating up by about a hundred notches, and added to my firm belief that, while Nate is a great dunker, and certainly deserved the win in '09, Iggy got absolutely robbed in this contest. That said, I'm a little torn over whether or not he benefits from making the dunk so smooth and fluid. One would think that it obviously should, except there's something about the way that J.R. seems to lose the ball, and needs to cradle it a bit in his wrist in order to get it through that makes it a little bit more sexy. Still not as good of a dunk technically... but just a little bit sexier.
I'm impressed with your dunk ranking system. Other than a occasional, "This dunk could be 2 spots lower, etc" The quality of the dunks consistently improves.
ReplyDeleteThe Dwight throw down...I'm not gonna argue one way or the other, but it feels a little off, kind of unsettling, to call it a dunk.