National Basketball Association

Definitive Dunks: The 30 greatest dunks in NBA history

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The slam dunk is the defining art form of the NBA and we’ve worked hard to build the definitive list of the 30 greatest dunks in NBA history.

It can be beautiful or violent, unexpected and delicate, or as thunderous as an approaching freight train. The dunk captures our imaginations unlike any other play on the basketball court. Scores of revolutionary dunkers and countless individual dunks have become lodged in our collective memory and over the past few weeks we have been working to build a definitive list of the 30 greatest dunks in NBA history.

We began by asking for submissions and suggestions from readers. The results was a list of 100 dunks that were submitted to our panel of notable basketball experts (which includes both dunkers and wish-I-could-dunk-ers) to be ranked.

Our panel:

Marquese Chriss (@Quese_22): Rookie forward for the Phoenix Suns, prolific dunker

Brent Barry (@barryathree): 15-year NBA player, commentator for NBA on TNT, studio host of NBA Gametime, 1996 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion

Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver): NBA Staff writer for Sports Illustrated.com

Jim Cavan (@JPCavan): Editor-in-chief of FanSided.com

Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh): Senior NBA Editor for FanSided.com

Josh Hill (@jdavhill): Editor for FanSided.com

Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles): Editor for FanSided’s Hardwood Paroxysm

Matt Cianfrone (@Matt_Cianfrone): Editor for FanSided’s Friendly Bounce

Chris Reichert (@Chris_Reichert): Editor for FanSided’s Upside and Motor

Jared Dubin (@JADubin): Contributing editor to Hardwood Paroxysm, prolific NBA freelancer

We are considering the dunk contest to be a separate category and included in-game dunks only. Our panelists ranked every dunk on a scale of 1-to-10, averages were calculated and the list was built. Below, you will find clips and descriptions of all 30 dunks. If you’re curious about the dunks we considered but did not include, you can find the full list here. And of course, let us know on Twitter @HickoryHigh or @FanSided what we missed or got wrong.

Now, the dunks.

30. The Doctor is in (Average Score: 8.2)

Julius Erving is one of the NBA’s most iconic dunkers and this was one of his finest efforts. Erving seemed to prefer the one-handed dunk, and with hands the size of catcher’s mitts it was fairly easy for him to control. One would assume our panel of experts gave this dunk some bonus points for victimizing Bill Walton, one of the best defensive big men of his era. This one almost certainly left Walton going down the road, feeling bad.

The soundtrack on this video is clearly a modern attachment, not really appropriate for the moment. To truly capture the impact of this dunk, I’d recommend muting the video and throwing on some Kool and The Gang, let the bass line drive you as The Doctor drives baseline and does his thing.

29. Getting Mozgov’d (Average Score: 8.3)

This was the dunk that added a new past participle to our vernacular — Mozgov’d. Poor Timofey Mozgov supplies his best defensive rotation and becomes a prop for the aerial antics of Blake Griffin. Nevermind the fact that Griffin barely touches the rim as he throws it through, this is the stuff of legends. It’s a story that will be passed down for generations, with no need for hyperbole because it really is that good:

“He lets the last defender go. He waits until everyone is in position and then he goes after the rest of them. He dunks on their kids, he dunks on their wives, he dunks on their parents and their parents’ friends. He dunks down the houses they live in and the stores they work in, he dunks on people that owe them money. And like that…he was gone. Underground. Nobody has ever seen him since. He becomes a myth, a spook story that shot-blockers tell their kids at night. ‘Rat on your pop, and Blake Griffin will get you.’ And no-one ever really believes.”

The second-greatest trick (stay tuned) that Blake Griffin ever pulled was the destruction of Timofey Mozgov. And like that…he was gone.

28. From the summit of Mount Mutombo (Average Score: 8.3)

Vince Carter is another iconic dunker, well known for his exploits in the Slam Dunk Contest and the Olympics. While those dunks don’t qualify for our purposes here, we still find Carter appearing on this list more than once. As a dunker, Carter presented a fairly unique blend of leaping ability, wingspan, and strength. This made his dunks as versatile as they were breathtaking.

There is something special about dunking over a shot-blocker and Dikembe Mutombo, who has the second-most blocked shots in NBA history, plays his role perfectly here. Carter blows past his defender and you can see what’s coming as he’s gathering his momentum, before he even leaves his feet. As Mutombo rotates over, he’s too far from Carter to bother his trajectory and meets him just before the peak. Carter takes the contact and seems to rise just a little higher before bringing the ball down on Mutombo’s head.

As Tracy McGrady struggles to maintain his composure on Toronto’s bench, Carter heads back up court with his best poker face on. Sometimes the best exclamation point on a thunderous dunk is acting like you’ve been there before.

27. The Doctor is still in (Average Score: 8.3)

This is the second of three dunks by Julius Erving to appears on our list, and is another illustration of what made him such an incredible aerialist. Every player on this list has mastered the art of hang time but Dr. J was exceptional at pushing the horizontal boundaries of his time in the air. Here, on a fastbreak, Erving takes off from a step inside the free throw line and has no problem making his way to the rim. He even has time to cock the ball back an extra few inches, avoiding the outstretched hand of the defender, before he slams it home.

Every dunk has their own unique aesthetics and though there is something of Clyde Drexler in the way Erving slices through the air, his size and strength set him apart. Then there is his ball control, enormous hands that allow him to cup and palm the ball, setting up unique dunking angles. Although the Philadelphia 76ers ultimately lost the series, that this dunk came in the 1977 NBA Finals earns it a few extra bonus points for coming in a high-leverage situation.

One more big one from the Doctor, coming up.

26. Are you kidding me? (Average Score: 8.5)

Gerald Green’s career began with so much promise and much of it was tied to his absurd leaping ability. Green won the 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and was the runner-up the following year. However, turning his vertical leap into meaningful on-court production proved to be a little more challenging. Green played for five teams in his first four seasons and was out of the league for two full seasons before finding his way back in with the New Jersey Nets.

This absurd alley-oop occurred during his 31-game stint with the Nets at the end of the 2011-12 season. Completed without a defender within arm’s reach, the degree of difficulty was still incredibly high. Green’s head is clearly above the rim, a legendary physical benchmark when it comes to dunking. The ball itself is nearly at the level of the rim when he catches it, before windmilling it with two hands and slamming it home.

If Green’s career ends up being defined by nothing more than this dunk, he should still be remembered for years to come.

25. Still in Mourning (Average Score: 8.5)

This dunk has all the classic Michael Jordan elements — the distinctive gather, the tongue hanging out, the ridiculous hang time, the one-handed hammer. Every time Jordan left the floor it was a poster waiting to happen. In this case, that poster comes at the expense of Alonzo Mourning, one of the better defensive centers of his era. Mourning was a big guy, listed at 6-10 and 240 pounds, but he goes flying out of the way as Jordan does the deed. Poor Mourning, this will not be the last time he appears on this list as the recipient of a monster dunk

This classic dunk also treats us to a distinctive Jordanism at the end — the emphatic howl of victory. This kind of aggressive emotional display was more characteristic of the younger Jordan, but here we’re treated to a spine-tingling outburst. In honor of Jordan, at the height of his athletic powers, let’s all make a pact to step outside this evening and howl at the moon. Be like Mike.

24. So. Much. Power. (Average Score: 8.5)

Stromile Swift was ferocious. He was long, strong, and could leap out of the gym, but what really set him apart was his vicious aggression around the basket. Swift tried to dunk on anyone and everyone. The more bodies there were collected under the rim, the more lift he seemed to get. You may not remember Swift for much else he did on the court — a mostly unremarkable nine-year career as a back-up big man for four different teams — but you might remember this dunk.

Swift catches the ball on a pick-and-pop and gets Tyrus Thomas in the air with a pump fake. Joakim Noah seems more than content to allow himself to be taken out of the play, keen instincts about what was to come. The over-eager Thomas, however, recovers just in time to get himself back into the play and put himself on the receiving end of Swift’s dunk. Thomas made a few NBA posters of his own back in the day and really should have known better.

The real victim here is the poor rim and basket support. You can see them buckle under the force of Swift’s dunk and, deep down, you know they were never quite the same after this.

23. Sorry, not sorry (Average Score: 8.6)

Poor Chris Dudley. The man suffered so much embarrassment for his career-long struggles at the free throw line, and here Shaquille O’Neal shows him no mercy. It takes Shaq three dribbles and two bumps to move Dudley under the rim. The next thing Dudley knows, Shaq is spinning around him, dunking on top of him, and shoving him to the floor. Shaq was a creature of unbelievable raw power and there is perhaps no better example of that than this dunk.

It’s worth noting that Dudley was not a small man, no matter who insignificant Shaq makes him look here. Dudley was listed at 6-11 and 235 pounds and made his money as a physical interior defender. None of that really mattered as Shaq brought the mountain to Dudley.

The icing on top of this dunk cake is the extracurriculars — Dudley shouting obscenities at Shaq and hurling the ball at his back as he retreated. It’s a noble gesture by Dudley but one has to wonder what, exactly, he thought would have happened if Shaq had just decided to come back and dunk on him again.

22. Here lies Jason Terry… (Average Score: 8.6)

The rivalry between LeBron James and the Boston Celtics is fiery. Although the cast around The King, and those wearing the Celtics’ green, has changed, LeBron against Boston always seems to create fireworks. This dunk, from LeBron’s third season in Miami, just adds to the legend.

The frenetic loose ball situation leads to a 3-on-1 scenario for the Heat with LeBron as the trailer and the diminutive Jason Terry as the lone defender. Mario Chalmers hands the ball off to Norris Cole on the opposite wing, who flips the lob to LeBron. Terry sort of begins his leap while he’s still facing Cole, unaware that it is The Flying Death Machine bearing down on him. LeBron gets his dunk, and Terry gets a faceful of hardwood.

Perhaps the best moment of the whole play is LeBron approaching Terry to stare him down on the floor. It earned LeBron a technical foul but, hey, sometimes you just have to treat yourself.

21. To the rafters, and beyond (Average Score: 8.6)

Since time immemorial, man has longed to soar, to fly through the air, breaking the petty laws of gravity and separating from the restrictive and possessive ground beneath them. Precious few have known that freedom but Kobe Bryant is among them.

Bryant patterned his game on Michael Jordan and there are shades of Jordan yamming on Alonzo Mourning here (dunk No. 25). Like Mourning, the victim — Dwight Howard — is a massive big man renowned for his defensive ability. Like Jordan, Kobe uses the same distinctive gather and finishes with one hand, seeming to rise even higher after making contact with Howard.

Kobe may not have been Jordan’s equal in terms of rings or advertising dollars, but he is far more than a fuzzy carbon copy. In moments like this, where Kobe takes Jordan’s template and builds on it aesthetically — a little more cupping of the ball, a slightly longer hanging on the rim — that you can really see him as his own man. Kobe may not have touched the GOAT’s legacy, but he more than held his own when it came to dunking.

20. The Double-Pump (Average Score: 8.7)

The reverse is a dunk best suited for the dunk contest, where a player has space and the agency to choose their own approach angles. In the flow of a game, with an active and engaged defense, the opening for a reverse is rare. Even rarer still does that opening present itself to a player capable of doing something like this.

The Vince Carter double-pump reverse may be the finest example of the art form ever discovered. Chris Mullin offers precious little defensive resistance but does push Carter’s momentum far enough along the baseline that only the opposite side of the rim is available. Rik Smits stops by to wave hello, just as Carter finishes his flourish of bringing the ball down to his waist before slamming it home behind his head.

It’s an exercise in acrobatics — Carter contorting his body to explode through the open space, but still managing to complete the dunk with force as his momentum carries him away from the target. Carter owned the Slam Dunk Contest and this is just another example of him bring the dunk contest to an actual game.

19. With malice aforethought (Average Score: 8.7)

There is something especially jarring about a Tracy McGrady dunk. Everything else about his game was so mellow, so smooth and laconic, that when he really rose up and unleashed the fury on someone it was hard to reconcile what you’d just seen. McGrady had the vertical and the length, it was just those sleepy eyes that distracted us and, in this case, the poor, unfortunate Othella Harrington.

If you don’t remember Harrington, he was a guy who played for the New York Knicks. That’s really all you need to know about him for our purposes here. He rotates out onto a cutting McGrady, meets him in the air, and winds up giving T-Mac a brief piggy back ride. There are a few other nice touches here — the way Harrington’s body contorts so that his outstretched arm seems to be defending his face more than defending the rim, the way McGrady rides his back for a moment and then hangs on the rim for another, just to make sure you saw what just happened.

Ol’ sleepy eyes probably headed right back to the locker room for a nap after this one. Who can blame him, dunking is hard work (so I’ve been told).

18. Paul was the angry one (Average Score: 8.7)

From 2012 to 2014, the Indiana Pacers were eliminated from the playoffs in three consecutive seasons by the Miami Heat. Although the results make it appear fairly one-sided, this was a physical, emotional, ultra-competitive, ear-blowing rivalry. In the 2012 playoffs, the Pacers had actually held a 2-1 series lead on the Heat before losing three straight. They met again in the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, with the Pacers dropping Game 1 in overtime.

As the third quarter wound down in Game 2, Paul George made a statement about the nature of this rivalry. George, still mid-breakout at this point, blows past LeBron and yams it home in the face of Chris Andersen, Miami’s best rim defender. It gave the Pacers a four-point lead in a game they would ultimately win, and oodles of confidence. In terms of raw aesthetics, this dunk may not be that much more impressive than some ranked below it, but the emotional weight of the moment in which it occurred is what carries it to the pantheon of all-time greats.

At least that’s how I remember it as a Pacers’ fan.

17. Sideshow Bob’s last gleaming (Average Score: 8.7)

This is an utterly self-made dunk, from start to finish. Dwyane Wade collects the defensive rebound and brings it upcourt himself, LeBron James hot on his tail. Somewhere in the space between halfcourt and the three-point line, the middle of the floor opens up for Wade, with wing defenders retreating to their respective wings and that bouncy-haired beauty, Anderson Varejao left in the lane.

What’s amazing is that Wade doesn’t appear to be thinking about dunking it until the moment he actually dunks it. At first his path seems to be veering across the lane, hoping to kick it out to a teammate for an open three-pointer. When the wing defender doesn’t bite, he just turns his hips and rises up to destroy Varejao. It’s a vicious dunk made all the more special by Wade’s nonchalant approach.

Afterwards, realizing what he’s done, Wade is sure to step over Varejao and bark at the crowd, as if this was his plan all along. Remember dunk No. 28 — you have to act like you’ve been here before.

16. The almost dunk (Average Score: 8.8)

I hate to be a wet blanket but this dunk, despite the high score, seems to barely qualify. Call me a traditionalist but the fact that Griffin seems to merely throw the ball through the hoop, instead of actually touch the rim, makes this an obscene stretch of the definition of a dunk. However, my fellow panelists all scored this dunk an 8 or higher (I gave it a 6) so I will defer to their expertise.

Of all the dunks we’ve seen, no one seems to get quite as high as Griffin does. Almost a carbon copy of his Mozgov masterpiece, Griffin rolls baseline and catches a rotating big man a step behind the action. Kendrick Perkins is a veteran, to proud to duck out, and savvy enough to push Griffin back — hence the ever-so-slight contact with the rim. It is remarkable though to see Griffin make contact with Perkins and continue to rise, his head is clearly level with the rim when he blindly throws the ball towards it.

Nice leap. Wish he had caught the rim. Let’s all move on to something a little more clear cut.

15. We believe (Average Score: 8.9)

Most of the best poster dunks involved a big man getting victimized by a smaller player. When that size disparity increases — a littler dunking on an even bigger — the play takes on increased significance. Baron Davis was a big point guard, listed at 6-3, and had plenty of big dunks in his career, but he wasn’t the kind of guy that finished every drive with a monster slam. Andrei Kirilenko was only 6-9 but an explosive leaper and accomplished shot blocker. He couldn’t do anything with this one from Baron.

This legendary dunk came during Game 3 of the 2007 Western Conference Semifinals. The Golden State Warriors, the eighth seed, had already eliminated the No. 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round. After dropping the first two games of the semifinals in Utah, this blowout win at home would turn out to be the only game they won in the series.

The game is not really in doubt when Davis drives baseline and throws it down on Kirilenko, but it is an emphatic exclamation point on one of the most incredible playoff runs in NBA history. I’m sure the Warriors would have preferred it to be a comma, instead of a sentence-ender, but, all things considered, it’s a pretty good way to remember this Warriors team.

14. For all the marbles (Average Score: 8.9)

When a defense breaks down, a dunk is usually born. In the biggest moments, defense usually tightens up and those phenomenon which can cause a break down — inattention, bad communication, inadequate talent — are harder to find. This is why the game-winning or game-sealing dunk is such a rarity.

This alley-oop between best friends forever Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal is the exception to the rule. Whatever this dunk lacks in aesthetics, it more than makes up for in importance and drama. This Shaq finish gave the Los Angeles Lakers a six-point lead with just over 40 seconds left in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals — a game the Lakers trailed by 13 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

It was a monumental collapse by the Portland Trail Blazers and a momentous comeback by the Lakers, with this dunk as the capstone. As Kobe Bryant drives down the center of the lane, Brian Grant recklessly switches out to double on him, leaving Shaq all alone in the paint. Rasheed Wallace was a step away as well and cutting off Kobe’s penetration was probably his responsibility on this play, not Grant’s. Inattention. Poor communication. Game, Lakers.

A few weeks later, Shaq and Kobe would win their first ring together sealing a friendship for the ages. All because of one enormous slam dunk.

13. Half-man, All-amazing (Average Score: 8.9)

Vince Carter’s nickname was, at one time, Half-man, Half-amazing. Rules of mathematics aside, I believe that may be selling him short by half-an-amazing. Carter has not just some of the most memorable dunks in NBA history, but also the most distinctive. There have been plenty of soaring alley-oops, but I’m not sure anything matches the reach that Carter displays here.

A quick primer on court dimensions — the half-circle of the restricted area is exactly four feet from the center of the rim. If you pause the video above at 21 seconds, you can see that Carter catches the ball in his right hand, with his head essentially even with the rim, and his body right above that restricted arc. Given that his arm is almost completely unfurled, we can guesstimate that the ball is at least six feet from the rim when he catches it. Although he is essentially at the peak of his jump, Carter has no problem pivoting his torso to slam it home.

I can’t even fathom having the athletic tools to jump that high or reach that far, let alone the hand-eye coordination to catch the ball with one hand and keep control of it as you carry it six feet through the air to another target.

All. Amazing.

12. Extinction-level event (Average Score: 8.9)

Kenneth Faried was once known as The Manimal. Lately though, he’s just Ken. The Manimal was made extinct on a cold January night during the 2013-14 season, put down by Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors. Ross was the winner of the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest but this vicious dunk on overshadows anything he ever did at All-Star Weekend.

As Ross collects the loose ball and heads off for a one-man fastbreak, you can see all the mechanisms of natural selection at work. Both Ross and Faried are predators and, to this point, Faried probably held a higher place on the food chain. You can see in his hunched shoulders and loping stride the anticipation of meeting Ross at the rim for an enormous block.

Ross rises just outside of the circle and exerts his superior length and leaping ability. It is ultimately his dramatic flex at the waist, cocking the ball back an extra foot, that keeps it away from Faried’s eager hands. Boom, we have ourselves an extinct nickname and a new apex predator.

11. The Mayor of Dunktown (Average Score: 8.9)

In the interest of full disclosure, “The Mayor of Dunktown” is not a real government position. In fact, Dunktown is not an actual physical location. It’s more of an idea, a metaphysical utopia that exists only in that place far beyond the horizon, where sunrise meets sunset. It is a place where everyone, no matter how small, can live out their dreams to dunk a basketball over some of the tallest and most agile human beings to walk the planet.

Kevin Johnson was listed at 6-1 during his playing days, but he was 6-1 in the same way that I’m 7-1, which is to say that he was not. But somewhere on this dunk, probably right around the time both KJ and Hakeem Olajuwon are bent at the waist preparing to launch their bodies upwards, Johnson transcends the physical realm. As he hangs on the rim, for just a moment, above a staggering Olajuwon, you can see his soul flitting off to Dunktown for the inauguration ceremonies.

Upon arrival, he is met by throngs of cheering crowds who care nothing for his personal transgressions or short-sighted economic policies. He is just the man who dunked on The Dream.

10. Why do you hate Shawn Bradley? (Average Score: 9.1)

For all our differences, there are a great many commonalities that bind together the human race. We all need food, water, shelter, and love. We also don’t really seem to care for Shawn Bradley. To be fair, our collective feelings run the gambit from general indifference to outright sports hate but I don’t think I’ve ever met a Shawn Bradley fan. He is the most unlikely of sports villains, by all accounts a generous, caring, and devout man who just happened to be unusually tall.

Maybe it’s the height. Maybe that’s why basketball fans seem to take universal delight in Shawn Bradley getting dunked on. Of the great many dunks which have victimized Bradley, this is the most famous. Tracy McGrady, drives baseline and takes advantage of Bradley getting hung up with Yao Ming. He’s already bringing the hammer down before Bradley has a chance to get his balance back.

Look, we don’t have to be proud that this play brings us so much joy. We don’t want to be the kind of people who find happiness in the misfortune of others. Really, it’s Bradley’s fault for being so darn dunkable.

9. A glimpse of the future (Average Score: 9.2)

All right, you caught me bending the rules. I disqualified summer league and non-NBA dunks but I couldn’t help myself in leaving this rookie-year Kobe Bryant preseason dunk on the list for our panelists to rank. It’s so good, it is worth bending the rules for.

As the clock winds down (in the game, I believe), Kobe uncorks a vicious cross-over, takes off from a step inside the free throw line and hammers it home on a still-carefully coiffed Ben Wallace. As a prelude to a career, this dunk works quite nicely — Jordanesque elements with a little bit of that salty Kobe edge thrown in.

Special bonus points were awarded for Sean Rooks deciding to stand over Wallace with his hands raised as though he had done something (or would eventually do something) other than watch Kobe be Kobe. The eagle-eyed among you will also notice Nick Van Exel voicing his approval from the bench as Eddie Jones tries to walk off what he just saw.

And don’t worry about poor Ben Wallace. I seem to remember he got his revenge a few years later…

8. The cradle will rock (Average Score: 9.3)

We return to Dr. J for the final time on this list, for what is certainly his most iconic dunk. Erving was well into his career at this point, the afro was gone, the youthful bounciness moderated by a mellow glide. This dunk is incredible, not just because of the general aesthetics, but because of the way it reflects his veteran savvy. This is a middle-aged dunk.

Erving chases down the loose ball on the left wing but never resorts to an all out sprint. He’s going to comport himself as a gentleman. Once he has the ball he shifts it down another gear allowing Michael Cooper to slide into position. He even stutter steps before leaping, with a little rock-the-cradle tease, just to make sure Cooper is right where he wants him.

Once he’s in the air, Erving isn’t showing off with hangtime or height, it’s the horizontal glide and the ball control again. Creating a beautiful arc in the air with the cradled ball — a stunning finish to the set up he just arranged. As he heads back up court you can see the loping Erving running return to his aging veteran thoughts — gas mileage, what’s for dinner, a nice pair of slacks.

Get that man an easy chair, he earned it.

7. The assassination of Brandon Knight by the monster DeAndre Jordan (Average Score: 9.4)

What can you say about this dunk that wasn’t already said by the faces of DeAndre Jordan and Caron Butler? This is a dunk that makes you wince, makes you cover your face and then peer through parted fingers because, as much as you want to look away, you can’t.

We have seen several dunks here made great by size disparity between the dunker and the dunkee, but usually it’s a small dunking on a big. This is the opposite end of the spectrum to an absurd degree — one of the NBA’s biggest dunking on of its slightest. But it’s not just a mundane example of a size advantage. Jordan absolutely flies, head at the rim.

While we never really get a shot of Knight’s face, everyone else involved in this play looks dazed. Chris Paul staggers forward, catching his breath and trying to figure out what to do with his hands. Four young kids in the front row lose their minds. Blake Griffin is screaming at phantoms. Jamal Crawford, in a suit, looks like he is on the verge of tears. All Caron Butler has is “whooooo.” And Jordan, bless his heart, gives us that nonchalant stink face to put a bow on the whole thing.

50 gold stars for everyone (and a handful of aspirin for Brandon Knight).

6. A ladder to the stars (Average Score: 9.4)

This Tom Chambers slam against (over) Mark Jackson and the New York Knicks belongs in the pantheon of elite dunks. However, I must confess that I’m not entirely sure it’s real. First of all, who the heck is Tom Chambers? Apparently, he once averaged 27.2 points per game across an entire season and may have, at one point, formed the first super-team and ruined the NBA in the process. I know he played in a slightly different era but, as near as I can tell, this dunk is the only surviving video evidence of his career.

Also, my vague understanding of physics makes me question the actual dunk itself. Chambers takes off just inside the free throw line, gets his knee into Jackson’s face, and seems to use that as a launching pad for a second leg of his flight. Just before he slams it home, Chambers appears to be at eye-level with the rim. Honestly, it begs credulity that even an ultra-athletic big man could leap so far and so higher. With the grainy quality of the video here, I think it’s worth considering that this is all an elaborate hoax, another production of the infamous Fake Moon Landing Studios.

I mean, if Chambers really could dunk like this, why is this the only artifact left of his basketball existence? I’m sure there is a logical explanation but I’d really rather just sit and watch that illogical dunk a few more times.

5. Scottie so naughty (Average Score: 9.5)

We have entered the top five and the first dunk in this elite tier is one that I had never seen before this project. Kudos to Scottie Pippen for keeping this one below my radar. Pippen is remembered far more for his offensive and defensive versatility than his dunks but this one deserves some recognition.

On pure aesthetics, this dunk probably belongs a little lower down our list — there’s not much artistry, the jump itself is fairly mundane (within the context of slam dunks). However, this gets a bump because of the emotional scenario. The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks were bitter rivals and Pippen didn’t just dunk on the Knicks, he destroyed their captain Patrick Ewing. The Knicks’ center is caught a moment behind the action and can’t muster the lift to meet Pippen at the apex of his jump. Instead, he is sent sprawling onto his back with Pippen standing over him. Scottie, in a boldy trollish move proceeds to walk over the top of Ewing instead of stepping off him, finishing with a stare-down as Ewing angrily pulls himself up from the floor, suddenly sans dignity.

This dunk is a vicious moment in what was a decade-long series of vicious moments between the Bulls and the Knicks. However, it will not be the last Bulls-Knicks dunk on this list.

4. Taking the leap (Average Score: 9.5)

No dunking act is quite so rare as the clean leap-over. It may lack the violence of some of the other dunks we’ve seen but completely clearing a defender is a striking assertion of dominance. It says, “my physical abilities simply cannot be bothered by yours.” Of course, the greatest example of this was the international incident Vince Carter caused during the 2000 Olympics by leaping over France’s Frederic Weis but it’s happened in the NBA as well.

John Lucas is a journeyman point guard who also happens to be short enough to make him eminently leap-able — something LeBron James took great advantage of here. Lucas sees the lob coming and, instinctually, rotates down to defend it without ever looking to see exactly which freight train is bearing down on him. He gets his first look at LeBron as The King’s knees pass on either side of his head. LeBron, in keeping his #brand consistent, plays it cool and pretends like this is the third time he’s leapfrogged Lucas this quarter.

For Lucas, which emotion do you think is stronger here: shame at being victimized with one of the most incredible dunks in NBA history? Or relief that LeBron cleared him completely and didn’t send him flying into the third row?

3. A history of violence (Average Score: 9.5)

This will be your fourth and final reminder that Vince Carter was a gift from the basketball gods. We’ve already seen Carter dunk on the most imposing defensive player of his era. We’ve seen him leverage hangtime to it’s fullest to put an unseemly double pump reverse on the Indiana Pacers. We’ve seen him show off the entanglement of his wingspan and leaping ability to catch a lob that no human being has any business reaching. Now we get to watch him put together the full package — fearlessness, length, hangtime, acrobatics.

Carter corrals the loose ball and loses Jason Williams with a nifty behind the back dribble, a little added flair on a play that really doesn’t need it. As Carter flies to the rim, he is clearly anticipating contact from Alonzo Mourning and turns his body bracing for the impact. With arms as long as the Appalachian Trail, he is never really in danger of being blocked. With legs that can carry him as high as Mt. Katahdin, he has plenty of time to come up with a solution. Carter simply waits until Mourning starts falling and then slams it down over him.

Carter was a special dunker in so may ways but my favorite thing about this dunk is the way he creates separation in the air for himself to work with. So many of the dunks we’ve seen involve the crashing of two bodies with one, the dunker, simply getting up a little higher. Here, Carter, doesn’t really dunk on top of Mourning as much as he dunks over him.

It’s a masterpiece.

2. Youthful exuberance (Average Score (9.5)

None of the dunks we have seen so far have used public shaming as such an effective point of emphasis. Shawn Kemp’s effort here is famous, not just for thunderous dunk, but for the way he stands over Alton Lister pointing and shouting. As a reminder to Lister, it’s pretty unnecessary. He knew he was about to get crushed, and even opted for cringing as opposed to trying to deter Kemp in any significant way. For everyone else in the arena, or watching now on YouTube, it was an exclamation point on the youthful exuberance that was Shawn Kemp.

Kemp was enormous and unbelievably bouncy. His twitchy, ADHD, aesthetic is pretty much on display throughout the entire play — from the catch, to the drive, to the dunk, to the celebration. He’s just bigger, stronger, and can leap higher than anyone else out there. And he knows it. You can see the excitement pouring out of him as soon as he corrals the ball and sees the open lane. Someone is getting dunked on here and Kemp knew it way before Lister did.

Over the years, many defensive-minded bigs have talked about acceptance when it comes to getting dunked on. Sometimes, it’s just the consequence of playing with maximum effort and trying to do the best job you can do. Funny enough, I don’t think Alton Lister has every publicly expressed that sentiment.

1. The GOAT (Average Score: 9.6)

The best dunk of all-time has to come from the greatest player of all-time right?

I will confess that, personally, I prefer some of the dunks that finished a little lower on our list. Yeah, Michael Jordan’s spin-move on the baseline to lose John Starks and Charles Oakley is pretty damn special. Yeah, he’s jamming on Patrick Ewing and acting out all the vitriolic rage of the New York Knicks-Chicago Bulls rivalry. Yes, Hubert Davis’ reaction from the Knicks’ bench is worth a million bucks. But I understand that none of those things are what make this one special.

It’s the tongue. And the Nike’s. And the sweatband on the left forearm. It’s the red No. 23 jersey. It’s Michael Jordan.

Jordan didn’t invent the dunk but for many of the players on this list, and many of the ones we’ll be watching next season, he is the template for what the overlap between style and substance should look like and how aerial athleticism should be leveraged on the basketball court. There is no more iconic dunker in NBA history (all due respect to everyone else on this list), and thus the icon’s most famous dunk is the one that tops our list.

Here is to 30 incredible dunks, the 70 others we voted on that didn’t make the final list, and all the young guys out there working to make sure I have to update this list again in a few years.

Here’s to the art of the dunk.

Remember you can find the full list of dunks we voted on here. And of course, let us know on Twitter @HickoryHigh or @FanSided what we missed or got wrong.