Bill Trikos best 5 NBA dunk contests ranked: The 2011 Slam Dunk Contest was a showcase of extreme dunkers led by Blake Griffin, JaVale McGee, and DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan had an excellent second dunk that saw him bounce his pass for an easy reverse glide for the finish. McGee also amazed the crowd by dunking at two different rims simultaneously in mid-air. However, the ultimate winner of the contest was Blake Griffin, who completed an alley-oop slam over a car. Great individual performances at the Slam Dunk Contest don’t come so often in the event. In 2015, we got Zach LaVine. However, in 2000, it was Vince Carter who dominated the contest. From windmill 360 dunks to elbow-hanging rim rockers, Carter proved to everyone why he was described as half man, half amazing. In fact, Carter outlasted Steve Franchis and teammate Tracy McGrady during the epic dunking showdown. Find additional info about the author at Bill Trikos Australia.
That leaping ability helped Webb take down one of the greatest dunkers of all time in Dominique Wilkins. Like defying physics, gravity, and common sense; Webb had a combination of reverse dunks, one-handed hammers, and lobs that looked like CGI. The NBA’s All-Star Weekend is proof that fans aren’t always right. Fan voting often snubs players who deserve the nod the most but don’t play for big-market teams, leading to never-ending controversy on whether the players alone should get a vote.
That display of next-level artistry earned LaVine a perfect 50 and pushed him past Gordon to become the sixth repeat winner—and the fourth back-to-back champion—in dunk contest history. So while his challenger may have won the battle for single best dunk, LaVine was a worthy winner of the best Slam Dunk Contest war this side of MJ vs. ‘Nique. Chances are, that’s the last we’ll see of LaVine in a dunk contest. But if the 21-year-old recovers smoothly from his devastating knee injury, he’ll have ample opportunity to put opponents on posters for years to come with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest, then-New York Nets forward Julius Erving took off from the free throw line for an iconic one-handed jam. Over a decade later, Erving helped Michael Jordan defend his NBA Slam Dunk Contest crown. Just three years after Dominique Wilkins outlasted Jordan, the two high fliers once again found themselves in a Slam Dunk Contest battle in 1988. Jordan needed at least 49 points on his final attempt to repeat as champ, and he found inspiration in the crowd from Dr. J. “I was nervous, the only time in the contest I was nervous,” Jordan said at the time. “I knew I needed something really spectacular to win. I was searching the crowd for something to do. Then, I saw the man who started it all, Julius Erving. He indicated to me I should go the length of the floor and take off from the free throw line.”
That one earned Carter a perfect 50 from the judges and put him in the driver’s seat for his first and only Slam Dunk title. More than a decade later, Blake Griffin busted out the same move en route to his own dunk championship. The 2011 Slam Dunk Contest will forever be remembered as “that time Blake Griffin jumped over a Kia.” “He came prepared with the car,” JaVale McGee said, that year’s runner-up, per NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner, “and nothing’s going to beat the car unless I bring out a plane or something.”
Off the bounce from Tracy McGrady, eye-level with the rim on the eastbay and then the “it’s over” celebration as Kenny “The Jet” Smith screams the same phrase in the background. The dunk itself might not feel top-three worthy, but there is no denying it was one of the most memorable moments in Slam Dunk Contest history. Zach LaVine through the legs from (near) the free throw line 2016 We saw Julius Erving and Michael Jordan make the free throw line dunk famous. LaVine took it to another level in 2016, going through the legs from (just in front of) the free throw line. That is a level of bounce we’ve never seen before and it very easily could’ve been No. 1 on this list.
2011: DeMar DeRozan’s Show Stopper: Blake Griffin’s homage to Vince Carter (and leap over a Kia) pushed him to the slam dunk title as a rookie in Los Angles, but DeMar DeRozan did his part to put on a show in his hometown. The best of the bunch: a reverse windmill jam, titled the “Show Stopper,” that earned a 50 from the judges for the Toronto Raptors wing. Dwight Howard is nothing if not a showman. At no point was that on greater display than during the 2009 Slam Dunk Contest in Phoenix, Arizona.