Video of the Day: Top 10 NBA Dunks of All-time
Nothing gets my adrenaline pumping this early in the morning better than watching a video of some crazy dunks. How about ten of them? Actually let’s make that ten of the best dunks ever performed during an NBA game. Damnit, that may be too much for me. I may need to watch it in slow motion or i’ll have a heart attack.
Personally, i’ve always believed that the Michael Jordan dunk on Patrick Ewing is the greatest in game dunk because he didn’t have the momentum of a fast break to help him explode. He just finished shedding two guys on the baseline and still somehow musters the energy and explosive leaping power to jump over big Pat, while catching his forearm on the rim with the dunk. Ummm….yeah. ‘Get off me’.
Nonetheless I think this is a pretty good compilation I came across today:
I think Jordan over Ewing should’ve been No. 2, but there’s no way it’s better than Vince jumping over that 7′2 frenchy.
Being from Phiily, I am partial to Dr J vs the Lakers but Jordan escaping and dunking over Ewing is #2 and VC as #3. Now don’t leave too bad of a comment about me Anklesnap!
You know, Hoop Doctors, there actually exists other basketball players in the history of the NBA aside from Micheal Jordan. Great player though he is, this constant fetishism of his legacy is growing tiresome. Jordan’s dunk was awesome, but the best in game dunk because he didn’t have momentum of a fast break? Really? It appears to me like y’all are, again, starting from “Jordan could never not be the best at any one thing” and then, working backward from that premise, coming up arbitrary reasons to support your claim.
I suspect that Anklesnap knows that Dr. J’s dunk was better than Jordan’s but, in a frenzied panic, came up with that fast break line so as to enforce this site’s crusade of polishing Jordan’s retired jock. And speaking of Dr J, do note his existence the next time y’all talk about Jordan’s Slam Dunk contests because your boy straight stole Dr. J’s signature free-throw line dunk. I mean, unless Jordan did it without momentum. Ha.
@nicco – I’ll tell you what. I’ll play you for it. Straight to ten’s, winner gets to be the correct opinion. haha
You need to lighten up bro, we can argue the Jordan vs. Kobe vs. Russell for days without ever coming up with a solution.
And correct me if i’m wrong, but I suspect you are not a baller yourself or you would understand where i’m coming from with regards to the degree of difficulty of Jordan’s dunk, given the amount of energy it takes to shake off two defenders on the baseline, and yet still muster up enough juice in his legs to explode over a seven footer for such a vicious dunk.
And as for dunks, you’d be surprised to know, I consider ‘Nique to be the greatest dunker the NBA has ever seen. But unlike many juvenile basketball fans around the world, i’m able to differentiate between a great dunker and a great basketball player. Gerald Green ring any bells?
I”m pretty sure no one in their right mind is going to argue Dr. J was a better basketball player than Michael Jordan….
Number One: Like I said, Jordan’s dunk was awesome. All I am saying is, not only is it not the best in game dunk of all time, it isn’t even the best dunk in that compilation. The degree of difficulty of Jordan’s dunk is high, but it is not such that it should be called the best in game dunk of all time. The ability to shake your defender, go baseline, and finish at the rim over a star center/power forwards has been demonstrated many times over in the modern NBA due to the better-than-Jordan ball handling skills which star SG are expected to possess.
Number two: No one is arguing that Dr. J. is a better player than Micheal Jordan. To suggest otherwise is to erect a strawman. What I am saying is that Micheal Jordan stole his move. I feel obligated to mention that because Jordan fans complain all the time about whatever move or mannerism Bryant or Wade or whoever stole from Jordan all the while oblivious to the fact that Jordan’s moves aren’t even Jordan’s moves.
@nicco – I think we may be in violent agreement here and not know it. I agree that people often say Kobe or Wade stole Jordan’s moves. And I also agree that many of Jordan’s moves were patterned after the great Dr. J’s stylings. As I stated in this article after the nextology series had wrapped:
http://thehoopdoctors.com/online2/2009/05/even-michael-jordan-was-the-next-someone/
I understand there is an evolution to the game. Michael Jordan took Dr. J’s moves and made them his own. It just so happened that he made them better and more effective. He took his weaknesses and made them his strengths. Kobe and Wade in a way have taken a few moves of Mike’s and incorporated them into their games. But why wouldn’t they? Survival of the fittest, right? And certainly Jordan was the fittest.
If we have a differing point of view it may be in that I don’t believe Wade or Kobe to have taken Jordan’s moves and done more with them. I firmly believe that given the tools at his disposal Jordan did as much as was physically possible at the time. I also believe he did all of what the stars today do, but better, and then some more.
Although he needs a great deal of improvement in his mid-range game, I am interested to see how things will shake out with Lebron James’ career due to the physical tools at his disposal. He is built like a tank, with the leaping ability of a SG. He has the tools, we’ll have to just wait and see if he is as focused on continuous improvement as the great ones are/have been at this early stage in their careers.
Bryant has had several memorable shots this past season: The pump fake to spin pivot during the MSG 61 point game; the clutch Dream-shake turned rainbow over LBJ; shaking Battier with the self-pass off the backboard then beating Ming to the rebound and finishing; and the shot during the Finals over Howard. The last one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEyERGtRuo0) is undeniably the most Jordan of them all. Bryant peels off his defender, protects the ball from when the help defender comes by curling it into his body, uncurls the ball and immediately shows the fake before pulling it back again and finishing the over the block-leading DPotY. You suggested earlier that I did not fully appreciate the difficulty of Jordan’s dunk; well, let’s talk about difficulty. Observe the angle of Bryant’s body in the last replay, note the hangtime, count how many defenders (one of which is the protege of Ewing) he defeated. The entire play took Kobe the width of the court–late in Game 5 of the Finals–and you’re talking about how he isn’t doing anything more with Jordan’s moves? Doctor, please.
I do not knock Jordan for stealing Dr. J’s moves, I really do not. I just am growing ill from all this jazz about how Jordan can never be surpassed at any one thing ever. Can’t he just be the most complete SG? Does he have to possess the best in-game dunk of all time too? Does he have the ability to do everything that modern players can do, but better? I mean, come on. This is what I mean when I say you’re turning Jordan’s legacy into a fetish. Are you really saying that Jordan could hit twelve three-pointers in a game, or outscore a team 62-61 by the third quarter, or score 81 points in a game altogether? I know he couldn’t because he had the chance and didn’t.
Look, Jordan’s athletic, defensive, and scoring ability speaks for themselves, alls I am saying is that there was basketball before Jordan and there is basketball after him.