Nothing causes a mass hysteria like a great dunk. What’s not to like? A dunk is the visual definition of athleticism, power, grace, and sheer disrespect of a defender which we all take pleasure in watching.
From the filthy to savage to downright evil slamma jammas, let’s count down 10 of the best dunks of all time.
We know a list like this is subject to intense debate, so if you have anything to say, then feel free to sound off on the comment section below.
Want more dunk lists? Check out our top 10 dunks for LeBron James, Vince Carter, and Michael Jordan.
10. Ricky Davis dunks on Steve Nash, transforms into a maniac
According to their respective resumes, Steve Nash is a two-time MVP and is bound for Springfield, while Ricky Davis is a crazy baller, who once teetered on the edge of insanity just to get a triple-double. But while Nash obviously had a better career, Davis can always gloat of that night when he teabagged Nash. We’re not sure what’s dirtier though, that dunk or Davis’ mouth that unloaded a string of obscenities afterwards.
9. The Chambers of Dunkness
Who said white men can’t fly? Certainly not those who saw Tom Chambers drove to the basket and treat Mark Jackson like a human hurdle on his way to a savage two-handed jam.
8. DeAndre Jordan Digs Brandon Knight a Grave
We don’t know what Brandon Knight was thinking here, but he probably wished he never came out of his mother’s womb after DeAndre Jordan vomited all over him in this disgusting throwdown.
7. His name was Alton Lister
Shawn Kemp has a lot of kids. He’s also sonned a plethora of poor defenders who didn’t know any better, perhaps none more famous than Lister, who continues to live in fear more than two decades after the former Sonic put a live dynamite in his mouth with this dunk. Kemp’s celebration after the throwdown was the cherry on the top that made the sequence all the more memorable.
6. Terrence Ross’ aerial cannibalization of The Manimal
Kenneth Faried was all over Ross like sauce on spaghetti, but the high-leaping Raptor just didn’t let a good challenge stop him from unleashing his barbaric side on The Manimal.
You know a dunk is an all-timer when opposing players suddenly forget they’re on the other side, while wetting their pants like a bunch of thirteen year olds gazing at a Playboy mag. That’s exactly the kind of reaction Gerald Green triggered, when he busted out a windmill on the alley-oop before slamming it home.
4. Gettin’ B-Diddy with it
Baron Davis has quite a collection of dunks for a man his size. What’s more impressive was that he always succeeded in stuffing big human beings like Kevin Garnett, Dikembe Mutombo, and Chris Andersen. But it was his thunderous dunk on Andrei Kirilenko during the 2007 NBA Playoffs that is regarded as the grandest of them all.
3. The Doctor is in….your face, Michael Cooper
They call him Dr. J, but opponents sure didn’t expect Julius Erving to treat them with care. In fact, the Doctor dunked on people so hard that he had probably given them trauma that would last a lifetime. Probably his best in-game throwdown was his Cradle Dunk he used to erase many-time Defensive of the Year winner Michael Cooper off the face of the planet way back in 1983.
2. Dwyane Wade Baptizes Anderson Varejao as The Brazilian Bum
Once Dwyane Wade decides to step away from the court, he’ll be remembered as an unstoppable scoring machine who had a penchant for reducing defenders into a smoking pile of rubbles. If you need any evidence here’s Exhibit A: Anderson Varejao. This despicable dunk on Varejao was both terrifying and funny to some extent because Wade dunked so hard on the Brazilian that it caused Varejao fall on his backside and raise both his legs like he’s about to eat his own nuts.
1. Not a Weis decision (The Dunk of Death)
All right, this didn’t occur in an NBA game, but this is Vince Carter we’re talking about so go take your point that this shouldn’t be on this list somewhere else. A dunk list without a Vince Carter highlight is like a Michael Bay flick without explosions.
Any hoops fan probably have seen Carter completely eviscerate Fred Weis of France during the men’s basketball gold medal game of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. And Vince, didn’t you know the French gave us the Statue of Liberty as a gift and this was how you repaid them?
