Tonight is All-Star Saturday night, which is where the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk Contest take place.
Last years Dunk Contest was impressive with Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon battling it out. This years contest looks to be interesting to watch too.
Before tonights contest I decided to look back on some of my personal favorite dunks performed in the contest. So here is a list of my top 10 dunks performed in the Slam Dunk Contest.
10. Amar’e Stoudemire’s Steve Nash header
This is really an underrated dunk. There was a lot of creativity here as Stoudemire threw the ball of the class and Nash headed it nicely giving STAT the perfect hangtime for him catch it and turn it into a nice slam. Stoudemire ended up placing second behind winner Josh Smith, but not many people talk about how creative this one. I try re-creating this multiple times with my friends and the head pass itself was hard to time, but thanks to Nash’s soccer skills he was able to do this easily.
9. Spud Webb 1986 backboard toss
At 5’6″, I still have no idea how Spud Webb was able to do this perfectly. There was a few Webb dunks that I could of mentioned but this was one of the more difficult ones as he bounced it on the ground, came off the backboard and was able to slam in it with no problems.
Webb ended up beating the previous winner and Atlanta Hawks teammate Dominque Wilkins in the final round and is still the shortest person to ever win the Slam Dunk Contest
8. The JaVale McGee double dunk
2011 might be remebered as Blake Griffin jumping over (the hood of) a car, but McGee’s two balls in two separate hoops dunk might be the best dunk of that years contest.
His 7’6″ was really useful in performing that difficult dunk. McGee ended up losing to Blake Griffin, but people should not forget what McGee did in that contest also, even dunking three balls in the same hoop.
7. Jason Richardson off the glass and between the legs
Jason Richardson won the 2002 and 2003 Dunk Contest, but in 2004 he also performed well. Not only did he throw the ball off the glass, but also caught and had enough time to go between the legs.
Richardson is easily one of the best dunkers we seen in the 2000s. He ended up losing to Fred Jones in the 2004 Dunk Contest final round.
6. Space Jam
Unfortunately, Zach LaVine won’t be aiming for a three-peat as he will be out for the year with a torn ACL. LaVine really brought back the Dunk Contest a few years ago in Brooklyn with a dedication to the popular Space Jam movie.
2015 was the start of LaVine bringing back the hype of the dunk contest. Best part about the night? he made each done look like a breeze. LaVine beat Oladipo in the Dunk Finals in 2015.
5. Dr. J and MJ from the free throw lines
I know I might be cheating on this list with two at number five. But it is hard to show which free throw line was the better one and since they are pretty much the same I put both the same slot.
Nothing much can be said here. Dr. J really show off what the Dunk contest is all about while Jordan’s dunk is one of the more iconic images in NBA history. Julius Erving’s dunk was not enough for him to win as he lost to Larry Nance in 1984 while Jordan was able to win the contest in 1988.
4. The Honey Dip
Watching it over and over, I don’t know how Vince Carter not feel any pain from his elbow after that dunk. As we all know, Vince Carter is one of the best dunkers of all time. He really showed his leaping ability here putting his whole arm inside the basket no problem.
As most of you are aware, this is one of the many dunks that VC did in 2000 to win the Dunk Contest.
3. Zach LaVine behind-the-back
We said LaVine brought the house down in 2015 and in 2016 he brought it again. Out of the all the dunks Zach LaVine did that day, this one was my favorite. LaVine makes it look easy doing a self pass and going behind the back while in the air. The guy was literally flying making it look easy.
2. Air Gordon
We knew Aaron Gordon had hops, but my goodness. Jumping over the Magic Mascot, grabbing the ball, going underneath BOTH legs and slamming it home. Impressive. Makes me excited for what Gordon has in store for tonight.
1. Half-Man Half-Amazing
Did you expect anything else? While the Honey Dip was impressive this is by far my favorite dunk in the Dunk Contest. It was his first dunk, but he really set the tone that night in 2000 and blew out the competition.
Nothing can top the 360 Windmill for now. Unless something big happens in the 2017 NBA Dunk Contest.
