Bill Trikos Australia top 5 NBA dunk contests: While Dwight Howard was ready to become superman again to defend his Slam Dunk Contest title, who knew that his kryptonite would be in the form of a 5 ‘9 dunker. Robinson showcased a flurry of athletic dunks. However, his emphatic night was capped off by a dunk over Dwight Howard to seal the deal. This proved once again that even small guys can win a dunk contest. With the victory in 2009, Robinson earned another Slam Dunk Contest title. Find more info about the author at Bill Trikos Australia.
That was also in full display during the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest. Fans were more impressed by Dwight Howard‘s Superman apparel than they should’ve been and voted him as the champion, even though he didn’t have any of the best dunks of the evening. Gerald Green used a step ladder to finish a breath-taking windmill. Then, he went through the legs for an explosive dunk despite being barefoot and later blew a candle on a cupcake sitting on top of the rim. He was spectacular and blatantly robbed.
Can an homage be better than the original? Just ask Michael Jordan, who channeled Julius Erving’s original artistry to defend his home turf at the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest. During the semifinal round, Jordan backed up toward the opposite baseline, dribbled inside the three-point arc and leaped from just inside the free-throw line to the basket, just as Dr. J had done four years earlier. The dunk was so spectacular that it earned Jordan a perfect 50 not only then but also when he busted it out to fend off Dominique Wilkins in an epic final.
Jordan took the Doctor’s advice and carried it out to perfection. The then-Chicago Bulls guard ran the length of his home floor at Chicago Stadium before flying from the free throw line to the rim for a one-handed dunk just like Dr. J. The contest-winning dunk produced one of the most iconic sports images with Jordan soaring through the air. Just when you thought Gordon and Stuff the Magic Dragon couldn’t do any better, they pulled this out of their sleeve. Stuff the Magic Dragon stood near the basket with the ball over its head. Gordon jumped over the mascot with his body facing away from the rim, grabbed the ball with his right hand, put it under his legs and dunked it with his left all in one fluid, mind-blowing motion. Gordon had two of the best dunks in event history in the same competition…and he still lost to LaVine.
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.”
First off, a shoutout to big men who do the dunk contest, because it’s tough to get creative at 7 feet tall. McGee used his height and length to his advantage, dunking two balls into two hoops side-by-side, one of which was off of a lob. This dunk will serve as a time capsule at some point, bringing us back to the short-lived days of the hoverboard fad before they started catching on fire. It’s still mind-boggling that Gordon was able to time the Magic’s mascot spinning on a hoverboard, then delivering a 360 windmill with the “mailman” showmanship. This one was a lot of people’s favorite from the legendary 2016 Slam Dunk Contest, but there was a different Gordon dunk that will appear at the top of this list.
First, Howard summoned another basket onto the court, one that would stand at 12 feet—two feet higher than a regulation hoop. Then, he hopped into a phone booth and emerged with a red cape to reprise his role as basketball’s new Superman, which he rode to the dunk title the previous year in New Orleans. To top it off, Howard hopped off the floor to catch a lob off the backboard from Orlando Magic teammate and fellow All-Star Jameer Nelson for the flush. That he made it look so easy was a testament to Howard’s superhuman athleticism at the time. That the judges awarded him a 50 for pulling it off spoke to their appreciation of how wild that part of the spectacle was, theatrics aside. Howard’s heroic dunk, though, wasn’t enough to secure a successful slam championship defense. Instead, the fan vote tilted toward a particular hunk of kryptonite.