For only a half season’s worth of basketball, the NBA’s top athletes have put together a strong resume and large volume of impressive slams, so much so that we had to list 100 of them. There weren’t any that had to be forced on, either, to complete the list. No, there were plenty of worthy candidates to make this list go beyond the threshold of 100.
Poster dunks and one incredible, innovative alley-oop lead the way in the year’s top 100 dunks of the first half. It only makes you wonder how the league’s best will top themselves in the second half of the season when teams are actually gearing up for the playoffs.
We’ve already had a few candidates that will certainly be up for dunk of the year, possibly even unrivaled and having already won the title unless a poster or alley-oop of epic proportion occurs. But we’ll worry about that at the end of the year. For now, we take a look at the 100 best throwdowns of the 2013-14 season.
***All descriptions were written at the time of the dunk.***
*** *** ***
100. Vintage dunk of the week: Vince Carter dunks over Tim Duncan
It’s not as memorable as the previous time Vince Carter dunked over Tim Duncan, but it is still worthy of respect for the soon-to-be-37-year-old Carter to need only so much room and so many steps to still dunk over one of the league’s better defenders.
Had this play occurred in 2004, it probably would have been the best play of the week. But because age is a cruel part of life, the dunk by Carter only receives so much recognition. Still, to see Carter dunk over Duncan and then do the signature celebration afterwards is something that I wish would never leave the NBA.
99. Michael Carter-Williams dunks over Giannis Antetokounmpo
Starting off the top ten with some rookie on rookie crime, Philadelphia’s Michael Carter-Williams dribbles 50 feet with Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo attached to his hip, but makes a burst to the rim that frees him up to dunk over the 6-9 rookie from Greece.
The Sixers need to keep tabs on Carter-Williams. If he continues to play as well as he has this year, Philadelphia won’t be in contention for any of the top picks next year. In fact, there’s a chance they may still win the division. As insane as that sounds, the Sixers are a few consecutive wins away from leading the Atlantic, where they trail first place by only four games.
98. Terrence Jones flies it in over Joel Freeland
Because Terrence Jones isn’t a household name, he didn’t receive too much recognition for his full-on poster of Joel Freeland in Houston’s against Portland earlier this week.
Here’s credit where credit is due. Jones has been solid as the Rockets starting power forward, averaging 9.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in his time as a first-time starter.
97. LeBron dunks on Alec Burks
This is going to be a recurring theme of the numerous LeBron dunks that will be seen on this list: him taking advantage of smaller/slower defenders.
A 6-6 Alec Burks can only do so much, before LeBron realizes he has about three inches and over 50 pounds on him.
96. Nick Young goes reverse over Portland’s Joel Freeland
Nick Young could posterize LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant at the same time and it wouldn’t eradicate the thought of this layup attempt he pulled against Toronto Sunday night.
Oh, but nice reverse on the Portland Trail Blazers’ big man, though. I almost lost my train of thought because of the mysticism evoked by that layup… or whatever you want to call it.
95. Jan Vesely sends home the alley-oop vs. Minnesota
Even Jan Vesely can have his moments, and this may be the best moment of what has been a disappointing start to his career.
He effectively runs a perfect fast break, initiating it with a steal, passing it off to a ballhandler and then finishing over Corey Brewer. This usually doesn’t happen, in case you were wondering if you were missing out on dunk contests in Washington.
94. Paul George is on a mission
I’ve been saying it since last year: If there’s any team that’s going to come out of the East this season not named the Miami Heat, it’s going to be the Indiana Pacers.
We’ve all taken notice of the hot individual starts by the likes of Chris Paul, Kevin Love and Stephen Curry, but has anyone noticed that the Pacers are 5-0 and Paul George is dropping nearly 26 points on 48 percent shooting, while also converting 44 percent of his seven three-point attempts per game?
George is making quite the leap following a solid conference finals series with Miami that ended with a thud in a blowout Game 7 loss where he only scored seven points on nine shots. The sting from the loss has appeared to resonate with George, who has come out of the gate guns blazing.
Among some of the incredible plays he’s made from his fiery start include this alley-oop from 7-2 teammate Roy Hibbert, who is able to deliver a perfect pass to set up PG for the slam.
93. Evan Turner showboats against the Lakers
Perhaps if this dunk did not occur with his team up five in the final seconds, it would have probably ended up higher on this list.
The disrespect lowers its ranking, but the dunk itself can be seen as it’s one of the more innovative and unique dunks I’ve seen this season.
At least he apologized, even though nobody on the Lakers seemed to care or notice.
92. Blake Griffin reaches back for the putback vs. Denver
Blake Griffin has played with Matt Barnes long enough to know that he better get in position for a rebound.
Barnes, who’s shooting 27 percent from three this year, launched up a prayer that bounced off the rim in Griffin’s direction, leading to the former Slam Dunk champion cocking back and ramming it through, all while Denver’s J.J. Hickson helplessly watches from behind.
91. Paul George dunks it in reverse on the alley-oop vs. Oklahoma City
The Indiana Pacers suffered two of their three losses of the season during a recent five-game road trip against some of the West’s elite, including their conclusion against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
However, that didn’t prevent Paul George from throwing down one of the better alley-oops of the season, as he frees himself from Kevin Durant to send home the perfect pass from Roy Hibbert.
90. Jeff Green two-hands it against the Spurs
As the commentators say in the video, Jeff Green is due at least one highlight per game. He’s an extremely athletic, extremely strong forward who isn’t afraid to attack the rim, leading to plays like this against San Antonio.
The Celtics could use any source of inspiration these days. Green’s athleticism seems to be the only reason to be interested, unless you happen to be a big Vitor Faverani fan.
89. Jonas Valanciunas dunks on the King
Unlike the dunk Evan Turner had over LeBron James earlier in the week, there was an actual effort being placed in attempting to send back the dunk attempt of Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto’s promising young 7-footer.
It’s a rarity to see LeBron not be on the better end of a meeting at the summit, even on the defensive end where he’s been known to make some incredible plays. Jonas gets the best of LeBron here, though, as he throws down the one-hander over the just-passing-by four-time MVP.
What’s more remarkable about the dunk is the fact that a player of LeBron’s caliber is even going up to stop the dunk. Many other superstars in LeBron’s position would have possibly let Jonas get the dunk uncontested, yet it wasn’t in James’ wheelhouse to simply allow a bucket when there was something he could do about it.
88. The Heat doing what they do best
87. Gerald Green goes coast-to-coast vs. Indiana
You’d assume the league’s best defense would be aware that Gerald Green doesn’t require much airspace to lift off and dunk. But here, the Pacers defense was all sorts of off compared to the historic level of defensive efficiency they’ve been setting this season. They give up 124 points to the Suns, two off of this high-flying slam from Green.
86. Blake Griffin slams in the alley-oop against New York
It just wouldn’t be a weekly top ten without Blake Griffin earning himself a spot. While he may not have ended the career of any helpless defender this time around, he still demoralized his opponent with a rim-shattering dunk.
Also, I’m not sure how, but Blake Griffin only seems to be gradually gaining athleticism. I’m not one to argue, though.
85. Reggie Jackson dunks on Kenneth Faried
The 6-3 Reggie Jackson is at it again, making another stop on the week’s top ten dunks list with an out-of-nowhere dunk over Denver’s Kenneth Faried.
It was a rough night for Faried, despite his team eventually getting the win, because he had already been victimized by Kevin Durant on a crossover earlier in the game. A few minutes after that, he had to deal with Jackson, who only needed to bounce off one step down the lane to elevate and throw down over the outstretched arms of the Manimal.
84. Anthony Davis goes full extension for the putback dunk
Anthony Davis is one of those players you can rightfully label as a freak athlete, with no better evidence than this stunning putback slam against the Miami Heat.
Davis comes from out of nowhere to contort his body and perfectly time the offensive rebound in between several Heat players who were only there to watch. It came during a first half against Miami where he ended the first 24 minutes of the game with a double-double. Like I said, freak athlete and all that.
83. Taj Gibson slams in the putback over Brooklyn
It just wouldn’t be a top ten dunks of the week list without at least one appearance from Chicago’s Taj Gibson.
This time around, Gibson is unleashing his fury over the disinterested Brooklyn Nets as he perfectly times a monster putback over Mirza Teletovic off of Jimmy Butler‘s wayward layup attempt.
82. Jeff Taylor comes a few degrees short of a 360
Add another 90 degrees and Jeff Taylor probably finds himself a few spots higher on this week’s list.
But Jeff Taylor has received plenty of recognition on these lists before. He’s an incredibly underrated athlete and has sneaky-good hops that will put defenders on a poster if they’re not aware of what the Swedish-born forward is capable of.
81. Serge Ibaka Dunks Over Andrew Bogut
The dunk by Ibaka is the highlight, but credit should be doled out to Kevin Durant, who showcases that improved passing ability with a perfect pocket pass to an open Serge in the lane.
Serge only needs a little bit of room for takeoff to punch it in over one of the league’s top post-defenders in Andrew Bogut, who arrives late to the challenge.
80. Gerald Henderson dunks on Taj Gibson
It’s Taj Gibson making his weekly appearance on the week’s top ten, but in an uncommon position. Rather than being the one doing the posterizing, he is the one playing the role of victim.
Gibson wasn’t quick enough to respond to the sneaky-ridiculous hops of Gerald Henderson, who drove baseline and went over the top of the athletic power forward.
79. Victor Oladipo dunks over Gerald Henderson
Victor Oladipo could have swung into the front row had he let go of the rim after dunking on Gerald Henderson, who unwisely went up late with the Magic’s rookie guard.
78. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James hook up for the long alley-oop
“Down by 30 in the second quarter? Seems like the right time to belt out this 70-foot alley-oop.”
This was a thought conceived and executed by Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Even when they’re at their worst, underneath it all they’re still entertainers, and good ones at that.
77. Miles Plumlee throws down the reverse alley-oop
Perhaps the Indiana Pacers would like to revisit the trade that sent Miles Plumlee and Gerald Green to the Phoenix Suns? After all, they seemingly make an appearance on this list every week.
While Scola has been playing well, Plumlee is nearly dropping a double-double, 9.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, as the Suns starting center. On top of being a candidate for the league’s Most Improved Player, he’s also a candidate for the Slam Dunk Contest, evidenced by the sick reverse alley-oop against Memphis.
76. Blake Griffin dunks all over Ricky Rubio
Ricky Rubio must have been feeling a tad too ambitious when he jumped with Blake Griffin on a fast break that was going to end in a dunk, no matter what Rubio attempted.
If you’ve ever imagined Rubio playing defense on Griffin on a fast break, it went exactly as you thought with Ricky being nothing more than another member of Blake’s highlight reel.
75. LeBron James dunks over David West
Yeah, that’s about what all of us expected when Luis Scola ended up defending LeBron James on an island, right?
74. Josh McRoberts dunks it over his former Laker teammate
Since we now have an excuse to discuss Josh McRoberts, let me be the first to congratulate him on defying the odds by nearly leading the Charlotte Bobcats in assists per, only coming up a few percentage points short of Kemba Walker.
McRoberts is averaging a healthy 14.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game this year, but he’ll only receive attention when he has dunks such as this one over Pau Gasol and the Lakers.
73. Victor Oladipo goes down Main Street against the Wizards
For a rookie, Victor Oladipo hasn’t shown much fear in attacking the heart of NBA defenses.
72. John Wall Goes 360
I have to say, that was some weak defense by Pau Gasol swiping at John Wall as he broke up a Laker fast break. Then again, did he really have much of a chance in a footrace against Wall?
71. Tim Hardaway Sr. never did that
There are two Tim Hardaway, Jr. dunks that could have taken this spot, but we’ll choose the one where the defender actually made an effort.
During the Knicks’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Hardaway, Jr. attempted to liven up the spirits of the New York faithful with this high-flying, fast-break slam from Raymond Felton over an unsuspecting Ricky Rubio.
The 6-6 Hardaway has gotten off to a slow start, shooting 32 percent on the season, but it doesn’t appear that athleticism or finishing at the rim should come as a problem.
70a. Gerald Green Windmill
70b. Paul George Windmill
With two equally impressive windmills being thrown down by one of the year’s early surprises in Gerald Green, who has gone from out of the league to starter in four years, and an MVP candidate in Paul George, it wouldn’t have felt right to rank one over the other.
You decide who threw it down better.
69. Gerald Wallace dunks over the Bucks
It has been an uncomfortable season for Gerald Wallace. Since being traded to the Boston Celtics in the deal that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn, Wallace is averaging 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds, while managing to find a way to shoot 35 percent from the foul line.
But he alleviated some doubt that he’d never return to his former form with this high-flying slam against arguably the league’s worst defense in the Milwaukee Bucks.
68. Markieff Morris Stuffs It Over Chris Andersen
If I was a young, athletic NBA player, chances are the one person I would prefer to have guarding me on the perimeter is Rashard Lewis.
Markieff Morris takes advantage here as he shakes Lewis with a fake to the middle, drives baseline, and then puts the late-arriving ‘Birdman’ on a poster.
Morris is in the midst of a career-year, averaging 12.4 points on 49 percent shooting and 5.9 rebounds.
67. Gerald Green rises up against the Kings
David Blaine has entire hour-long shows about levitating? Gerald Green does it every time he leaves the ground.
As he shows in this dunk against Sacramento, Green’s ability to rise up seems borderline effortless. He rises up like a feather being blown upwards by a vent. He’s able to rise up so quickly and suddenly that defenders, as in DeMarcus Cousins‘ case here, can’t get out of the way fast enough.
Gerald Green is a special kind of athlete, and it’s surprising that he was without an NBA job for two seasons. Yeah he shot 34 percent in 2008, but his vertical, though! You would assume he would have kept a job for his highlights alone, which is what appears to be the case with Utah and Jeremy Evans.
66. Old man Pierce still got it
Paul Pierce is one of the sneakiest players in the league for plays like this. Despite recently turning 36 years old and seemingly slowing down by the day, he’s still capable of making highlights, such as this crossover/poster combo on the Orlando Magic.
If veteran savvy could be measured, Pierce would lead the league in it. It’s simply astounding how the former Kansas Jayhawk finds ways to score, despite having a extensive shot-release and limited explosion off the dribble.
Through four games, he’s averaging 15.8 points on 56 percent shooting. He may just be in the league for another decade based off of how he’s still capable of putting up numbers when every defender knows what to expect.
65. Earl Clark dunks on Nazr Mohammed
It truly surprises me that Nazr Mohammed is only 36 years old. After playing for eight different teams, it feels as if Mohammed should have been nearing his 40s by now. Either way, what Earl Clark does to Nazr here isn’t fair as he drives past Gibson and throws down.
64. Terrence Ross throws down the alley-oop on a memorable night
The Air Canada Centre hasn’t been as alive in a long time as it was on Saturday night when Terrence Ross punched in this alley-oop off a turnover he created.
The alley-oop was just two of an unlikely 51 points from Ross, who dropped ten three-pointers in the loss to the Clippers.
63. Ramon Sessions dunks over the trailing LeBron James
Not every day do you see a player get the best of LeBron James on a dunk, but the 6-3 Ramon Sessions? Unexpected to say the least.
Consider this another case of the Miami Heat bringing out the best in their opponents. As good a driver as Ramon has been this year, he hasn’t exactly put the fear of God into his opponents when it comes to being on the opposite end of a poster.
62. Tobias Harris sends Paul Millsap to the floor
Unlike his getting dunked on by LeBron James, Paul Millsap at least tried to contest the dunk on Tobias Harris, even though it was probably too late and he should have just let the play transpire without interfering.
Since Millsap has been victimized by dunks the past two weeks, we’ll offer him some positivity to show we’re not picking on him: He has played well in his first year with the Atlanta Hawks, averaging 17.7 points and 8.7 boards per.
61. Reggie Jackson puts Amar’e Stoudemire on his poster
Dunking over Amar’e Stoudemire just doesn’t have the same value to it as it did pre-New York days. Nevertheless, the 6-3 Reggie Jackson, who is combining with Russell Westbrook to form arguably the most athletic point guard tandem in NBA history, still impressed as he went baseline and rose up with enough time to get the dunk in before Amar’e could get into position.
60. Amar’e Stoudemire posterizes Luigi Datome
Amar’e hit us with looks of the vintage Amar’e with this huge dunk over the Pistons’ Luigi Datome.
59. Kevin Durant dunks over James Harden
Perhaps James Harden should have resorted to playing his usual style on defense: not playing defense.
It certainly would have helped him in this situation, helping him to avoid getting dunked on by his former teammate, who just so happens to be a 6-10 forward who can do just about everything on the floor.
58. Dwyane Wade Dunks It Over The Magic
Are we reaching the point where we can no longer describe these type of plays from Dwyane Wade as vintage since he’s doing it with so much more frequency now?
Wade is looking more and more like himself as he recovers from the knee injury that enabled one of the weaker postseason performances of his career. This dunk over Nikola Vucevic on a drive is confirming that his body has significantly improved from the last time we saw him in June, 2013.
57. Gerald Henderson alley-oop off the inbound vs. the Bulls
New rule: Anytime a big play happens, don’t upload the video that features the commentators of the team it occurs against.
Chicago’s announcers don’t do Gerald Henderson’s huge inbounds slam justice. The fact that it even occurred against a team as stout on defense as Chicago is difficult enough, but Henderson was able to free himself of Kirk Hinrich to get to the ball as it reached its apex.
Nobody notices because it’s in Charlotte, but Henderson is a sneaky-good athlete who can rise up with the best of them.
56. Taj Gibson dunks on Bismack Biyombo
A staple of seemingly every weekly edition of the top ten dunks list, Taj Gibson throws his hat into the ring once again, this time with a demoralizing poster slam over Charlotte’s Bismack Biyombo.
There’s no point in even trying to defend Gibson’s dunks at this point. He’s too powerful and gets to the rim too quickly to even make an honest attempt at sending back one of the league’s most ferocious dunkers.
55. Blake Griffin dunks around Chris Kaman
Even more surprising than the dunk itself was Jamal Crawford turning down a wide-open three to facilitate.
It looks like Chris Kaman finally gets it, though. After years of having defenders actually attempt to avoid embarassment and create a highlight of their own with a block, Kaman finally realizes that he won’t win against a Blake Griffin dunk, allowing the athletic man-child to throw down the one-handed tomahawk. However, as we’ll see later on in this week’s edition of the top ten, not all of Blake’s defenders understand that it’s better to just let Griffin get his.
54. Nicolas Batum dunks on Jonas Valanciunas
Jonas Valanciunas is only averaging 27 minutes of playing time per game this season, despite putting up 12.1 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes. He probably would have preferred to have been benched to avoid this full-on posterization at the hands of the athletic, rangy Nicolas Batum.
53. LeBron James dunks in the reverse vs. Orlando
LeBron James can still do some impressive acts for someone who has been complaining about back spasms since the start of the preseason. Not only is he throwing down reverse dunks like this, he’s also shooting 60 percent from the field. Imagine him when healthy.
52. LeBron outruns the Lakers
As large as he is, LeBron James should not be capable of outrunning an entire team of professional basketball players, point and shooting guards included.
Instead, that’s exactly what LeBron does. He starts out in the middle of a pack of Lakers, then turns on the jets as he makes a move on Kendall Marshall that’s enough to elude the point guard, leaving an open lane for the signature tomahawk.
51. DeAndre Jordan climbs Mt. Dalembert
Hasn’t Samuel Dalembert learned anything from Brandon Knight? When the ball is lofted in your direction, it’s best just to move out of the way and let nature take its course. Instead, Dalembert froze, and DeAndre Jordan rose up on his back to slam through the powerful alley-oop.
50. Anthony Davis does Cirque du Soleil on weekends
Don’t try and accredit the New Orleans Pelicans’ 1-3 start to Anthony Davis. The second-year star has started off the season as well as anyone could hope for, currently averaging an absurd 22 points, 12 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per.
Perhaps the most impressive stat is Davis’ 93 percent shooting on 28 free throw attempts.
But we’re not here to talk about free throws. We’re here to talk about throwdowns, such as this contorted alley-oop from Brian Roberts that Davis turns into a one-handed slam over Charlotte’s Anthony Tolliver.
49. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James go off glass for the alley-oop
This isn’t the first time the duo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James have combined for an alley-oop off the glass, with the previous one occurring last year in a contest with the Sacramento Kings.
This one was a little more relaxed in comparison, but it is always impressive to complete such a dunk when there are defenders chasing you on the fast break and attempting to play defense.
48. Ray Allen shows off his remaining hops on Kent Bazemore
Ray Allen has been displaying some impressive old man hops this year. Although his three-point shooting is down compared to previous seasons, he’s getting to the rim and finishing as well as he has in years.
Kent Bazemore, Golden State’s hype-man/point guard, may want to go back to celebrating on the bench from now after getting dunked on by a 38-year-old.
47. Victor Oladipo welcomes himself to the NBA
It sure didn’t take long for Victor Oladipo to answer the early predictions of Rookie of the Year with this strong strip on Deron Williams and his first career 360 slam.
So there’s a travel and probably a foul in there… all it means is that Oladipo is halfway on his way to superstardom.
The former Hoosier has gotten off to a strong start. In four games coming off the Magic bench — that shouldn’t last long — Oladipo is dropping 14 points, 5.3 rebounds and four assists per game.
46. Wesley Johnson Goes Reverse Over Paul Pierce
Things have been rough for the former ‘Big Two’ of the Boston Celtics. It’s already been documented how poorly Kevin Garnett has been playing, but he’s drawing attention away from Paul Pierce shooting 38 percent from the field and 28 percent from deep.
Pierce was able to bring attention to this dunk, though, courtesy of Wesley Johnson going baseline and throwing it down in reverse over the cornerstone of a trade gone wrong.
45. Jeff Green flies down the lane for the dunk vs. the Clippers
One of my favorite dunkers this year, as he should be in everybody’s mind, Jeff Green has seemingly carved out residence on each week’s top 10 dunks list.
Although he surprisingly makes this week’s list without a tremendous poster, he does provide enough theatrics on this aggressive fast-break slam against the Los Angeles Clippers to earn himself a spot.
44. Russell Westbrook streaks down Main Street for the dunk vs. Denver
Hey, Denver, next time Russell Westbrook is picking up a full head of steam and has the ball, it might be best to at least attempt to stop him from annihilating your rim.
43. LeBron James goes baseline against Andrea Bargnani
Yeah, this is exactly what I would have expected had you told me Andrea Bargnani was defending LeBron James. Using nothing more than the athleticism he was given and has mastered over his playing career, LeBron goes right around Bargnani baseline to throw down the reverse dunk in his team’s loss to New York.
42. James Harden cocks back and dunks on Serge Ibaka
Man, James Harden dunked on Serge Ibaka like he didn’t even know him.
Then again, it looks like Harden doesn’t even see Ibaka. The Thunder forward comes into the picture late, realizes his mistake, and then pulls his arm back after seeing he didn’t stand a chance blocking his former teammate.
41. JR Smith dunks on the Cavs
J.R. Smith gave the remaining faithful of the New York Knicks a show in their blowout victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For example, this insane reverse on the fast break wasn’t even the best dunk he had that day.
40. Wesley Matthews finishes the inbounds alley-oop vs. Denver
In the middle of a special and unexpected year, the Portland Trail Blazers continued with those themes with this inbounds alley-oop from Nicolas Batum to Wesley Matthews.
Poor Randy Foye was just a victim who got caught in the crosshairs.
39. DeAndre Jordan dunks on Glen Davis
Good job, good effort by Glen Davis, but this is one of those plays you just let happen and move on from.
At which point are defenders going to realize that attempting to block the dunks of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are not going to end well? They’re too big, too athletic, too strong, and jump too high for any mortal human being, even those of insane height, to successfully send back a dunk.
Consider Davis as a martyr for the cause. In time, it will happen and we will rejoice.
38. Greg Monroe dunks over John Wall
John Wall tried to use all of his 6-4 frame and athleticism to block the dunk of Greg Monroe, but ultimately failed in rejecting the 6-11 power forward.
If there’s a new phenomenon of big men running the break and finishing, then I’m all for it. The game could use some more 7-footers with ballhandling skills.
37. Jonas Valanciunas spins and slams over Andrew Bogut
My favorite part of the Rudy Gay trade? More Jonas Valanciunas!
The 6-11 center from Lithuania is averaging only 27 minutes per game and producing 9.1 points and 7.6 rebounds, despite arguably being the team’s best player. The talented center is capable of hitting short jumpers, but also has the footwork to score at will from inside, evidenced here by this spin and dunk over Golden State’s Andrew Bogut.
36. Ben McLemore dunks on the Suns
Although Ben McLemore is stuck in the NBA purgatory that is Sacramento, he was still able to find a way onto highlight reels everywhere with this quick-rising slam over a pair of Phoenix Sun defenders.
The 6-5 rookie has struggled out of the gate, only shooting 39 percent from the field, but his athleticism has certainly not hindered him in the slightest.
35. Andre Iguodala is home
With the Denver Nuggets at 0-3 and his Golden State Warriors 3-1, Andre Iguodala must feel he made the right decision to leave the former for the latter.
Andre was placed alongside athletic, highlight-factories in Denver, but it’s all come together in Golden State as he gets the best of both worlds: highlights and winning.
It didn’t take long for Iggy to find himself at home in Oakland, as Stephen Curry, who is known for these, hooks up with Andre for a 55-foot alley-oop.
34. Ben McLemore Dunks Over Darren Collison
Two installments of Dunks of the Week. Twice we have already seen rookie Ben McLemore make an appearance.
The Sacramento King has shown no hesitation in driving and rising up to throwdown. After making two Phoenix Suns defenders his victims last week, he turns Clippers’ 6-0 point guard Darren Collison into a poster with this fast-break slam.
33. James Harden dunks over Marreese Speights
Hey, Golden State, take a note from Denver’s mistake of not stopping Russell Westbrook on a fast break and learn to stop high-flying, athletic guards from getting easy looks and dunking over your defenders.
32. Blake Griffin throws down the windmill alley-oop
I’m not sure if Matt Barnes was purposely trying to throw the alley-oop pass low to Blake Griffin for the rare windmill alley-oop, but it was the right play, regardless of where he was actually trying to put the ball. Sometimes the best alley-oops come off of the worst passes.
On the dunk itself, it’s Blake being Blake. He’s capable of doing things that no player at his size should be able to do and he does them with disturbing ease. Seriously, look at his expression. He treats each of his dunks as if he does them on a daily basis, which he sort of does actually.
It’s been four years since we first started watching Blake Griffin, and we have yet to see him display any kind of emotion or expressions following his dunks. In fact, it’s his teammates and the crowd’s reaction who do that for him.
31. J.J. Hickson dunks on Derrick Favors
Derrick, if you’re going to attempt to stop J.J. Hickson from dunking, you’re going to have to do a little more than the effort that was given here.
J.J. is an incredible athlete at his size, yet Favors foolishly tries to limit Hickson by only taking away one of his arms, allowing J.J. to use the only arm he needed to finish with authority.
30. Paul George slams in the reverse dunk in transition
It feels as if we’re watching Paul George shine on a fast break every time these lists are compiled. Give credit to George, though, he’s keeping us interested.
In his team’s blowout victory over Houston, George received another opportunity to draw a reaction from the crowd, and threw down just your typical double-pump reverse.
29. Victor Oladipo Dunks It Over Two Hawks
Victor Oladipo hasn’t been the type of rookie to shy away from attempting to dunk over two established big men of the league in Al Horford and Paul Millsap.
The Rookie of the Year candidate scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the win over Atlanta.
28. Josh Smith slams it over Chris Bosh on the fast break
Josh Smith has never been one to turn down a dunk or a three-point attempt when given the chance. He, and the Detroit Pistons, is much worse off when he’s taking three-pointers, but they have no arguments when he’s throwing down dunks in transition, such as this one against Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat.
27. Jeff Taylor Shows off his athleticism against the Sixers
Straight out of Sweden, Jeff Taylor is one of the league’s top sneaky good athletes, right up there alongside fellow Charlotte teammate Gerald Henderson.
The Philadelphia 76ers learned this the hard way when they allowed Taylor to curl across the lane and finish with emphasis on the surprised defense.
26. LeBron James with the rare no-look reverse dunk
Once again, LeBron James is in a situation here where he makes the execution and ensuing result look a whole lot easier than it actually is.
Off a Mario Chalmers‘ miss, LeBron runs from the other side of the court, anticipates where the ball is going to carom, grabs the ball off the rim, and then dunks it backwards without even looking.
In fact, LeBron wasn’t even sure he was in the right place until he turned around on the way down.
25. DeMarcus Cousins finishes the fast break with a poster
Omri Casspi must have had some sort of death wish to attempt to stop DeMarcus Cousins, listed at 6-11 and 270 pounds, from barreling down the lane to finish off a fast-break dunk. It’s not as if this is Cousins’ first time finishing off such a play. He arguably has the best handles in the league for a player at his position and has been known for running fast breaks and finishing them with authority.
Like many of the players who end up getting posterized, Casspi didn’t do his homework.
24. LeBron James dunks on gravity
LeBron James has defied the laws of physics before, but he’s never been more open about it before until now.
In this alley-oop dunk against the New Orleans Pelicans, LeBron goes backdoor on a cut to receive a perfectly placed, no-look pass from Dwyane Wade. Rather than just dunking it through, however, James pauses in mid-air to evaluate his surroundings and breathe in the scenery. After appreciating the moment, James finally falls back down to earth, but not before finishing off the devastating alley-oop.
23. Tony Wroten dunks all over Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
A year after being traded from a Memphis team where he averaged 2.6 points and played 35 games, Tony Wroten is averaging 13 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as Philadelphia’s backup point guard.
He’s also started 11 games in the absence of Carter-Williams, making history when he recorded a triple-double in the first start of his career.
Now that we got introductions out of the way, here he is dunking on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
22. Shaun Livingston dunks on Robin Lopez
Shaun Livingston is dunking? I’m surprised he can still walk after the injury that caused viewers to physically wretch in disgust: a knee that was not where a knee is supposed to be.
Livingston has been one of the few bright spots in Brooklyn’s early season mess. The former No. 4 pick is coming off the bench to average a career-high 9.5 points per game on 51 percent shooting to go along with 3.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds per.
Had injuries not played such a heavy role throughout his career, Robin Lopez wouldn’t feel as embarrassed that he was dunked on by someone who only had one knee for nearly a year.
21. Rodney Stuckey Drives It In Over Carlos Boozer
Don’t look now, but Rodney Stuckey is averaging 16.9 points per game on a career-high 49 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc.
While his game has looked significantly better, his athleticism has remained consistent, shown here by this drive and dunk over Carlos Boozer.
20. Paul Millsap dunks on Aron Baynes
Off topic, but the name Aron reminds me of this Key & Peele sketch.
In all seriousness, though, this dunk is rude. Paul Millsap should have apologized afterwards, even if his Hawks did end up on the business end of a beating.
19. LeBron James dunks on Ben McLemore
LeBron James was on a mission this week. For some reason, it crossed LeBron’s mind that he had to have at least one Dunk of the Year candidate in every game he played in from now on.
Starting off against Sacramento, LeBron amazed viewers with his towering posterization of the Kings’ Ben McLemore, a 6-5 rookie guard who has obviously never watched James before. I say this because any other defender in their right mind would have stepped out of the way.
18. C.J. Miles rises up over Orlando Johnson
The top poster dunk of the week, by far, goes to Cleveland’s C.J. Miles for his high-rising slam over Indiana’s Orlando Johnson.
The 6-6 Miles doesn’t appear to have his hand even connect with the rim. The dunk is similar to Blake Griffin’s famed throwdown over Timofey Mozgov. It does nothing to diminish the intensity of the highlight, though. In fact, it only accentuates the degree of difficulty.
Following an excellent fake to get his defender leaning in the right direction, Miles only needed two dribbles and two steps to rise up and throw it in over the 6-5 Pacer reserve, which should have been called for a foul. I’m guessing the officials didn’t want to add insult to injury.
17. Andre Drummond throws down the off-the-glass alley-oop vs. the Lakers
As expected, the Detroit Pistons have been extremely frustrating to watch. There’s talent littered throughout the roster, especially in the starting frontcourt, yet there’s no cohesion anywhere, evidenced by the 4-7 start.
But because there is talent, we sometimes get to see it put on full display. Taking the top spot in the top 10 dunks of the week is this thunderous slam by living and breathing titan Andre Drummond off a pinpoint pass from Brandon Jennings off the glass on a two-on-two fast break.
Watching Jodie Meeks and Steve Blake idly stand by as Drummond nearly tears down their rim caps it off.
16. Taj Gibson makes Nikola Vucevic take a seat
Taj Gibson seemingly makes a living by powerfully dunking over defenders — whether big or small — and putting them on ferocious posters.
Props to Nikola Vucevic for attempting to contest this dunk, but I’ve yet to see a defender successfully swat away a dunk attempt by Taj.
15. Wilson Chandler reaches back for the one-handed alley-oop
Usually in games involving the Miami Heat, it’s LeBron James throwing down the one-handed alley-oop. This time around, it’s Wilson Chandler, the Denver Nuggets ultra-athletic small forward taking the honors of throwing down the sickest alley-oop of the game, as well as the top spot on this week’s top ten.
14. LeBron James dunks on Paul Millsap
Paul Millsap does not get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to trying to take a charge from LeBron. McLemore at least has the excuses of being a rookie and trying to make the right play. Millsap, on the other hand, is a veteran that should very well know that stepping in front of a speeding LeBron James is the last thing you should do.
It’s interesting how the two poster dunks came so close together. LeBron hasn’t had many impressive poster dunks over defenders over the past year, yet he breaks through with two within a week of each other.
13. Anthony Davis dunks on Glen Davis
If I were Anthony Davis, I, too, would be peeved that the Orlando Magic thought they could defend me with Glen Davis and get away with it.
The result, an unbelievable poster dunk by Davis over the top of Davis and Victor Oladipo, was to be expected.
12. Damian Lillard dunks on the Nuggets
Damian Lillard looked a little like Russell Westbrook on this dunk over Denver where he takes on the whole team.
Lillard starts off with a quick split of a double-team, just to be given a runway to dunk between two Nugget players who were clearly caught off guard by Damian’s quick hops.
11. John Wall gets revenge over Greg Monroe
Only a few weeks after Greg Monroe put John Wall on his highlight reel, Wall returns the favor, even going as far as besting the fast-break dunk Monroe had earlier this year.
Wall, arguably the greatest athlete at his position, went with the left hand to avoid the block, as well as needing only a step to gain the hops to get over the top of his 6-10 defender.
10. Chris Paul to Blake Griffin… X 3
We get it Chris, you’re good at throwing passes. The same goes for you, Blake. We understand you can catch-and-finish better than anyone else in the league, but that doesn’t mean you have to rub it in.
We’re barely two weeks into the season and already Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have combined for some of the most memorable plays of the early season. In their win over Golden State, which included CP3 going off for 42 points, the duo hooked up for not one, not two, but three alley-oops on three consecutive turnovers in the span of a single minute.
Each alley-oop has something special to it, too. The first alley-oop has Blake creating a turnover without even looking and the third features Griffin’s best finish of the three.
But the second alley is the most impressive and it’s not even close. Paul throws the alley-oop at midcourt before Griffin is even able to get to the three-point line. Griffin ran 25 feet to get a ball that was thrown 50 feet away from the rim.
Blake Griffin must have been mistaken when he claimed Lob City was a thing of the past. No fixture of the game that produces six points on three shots at the rim in a minute should ever be put on ice.
9. Paul Millsap Posterizes Jared Sullinger
Jared Sullinger might be a little peeved at the defense, or lack thereof, by Vitor Faverani, who allows Paul Millsap to go baseline and throw down one of the best facials of the young season.
8. Iman Shumpert gives the Knicks something to cheer about
Since the New York Knicks and their faithful fan base have had little to smile about lately, it would only feel right to give them something to be proud of by awarding Iman Shumpert the dunk of the week with this trampoline slam over two Orlando Magic defenders.
Shumpert, who shot 0-for-6 in New York’s 41-point home loss to Boston on Sunday, has been at the center of trade rumors lately and may have put a little more emphasis into this particular dunk as a result. Either that or he’s just really athletic. We’ll side with that theory since there’s a lot more evidence to support the claim.
7. LeBron James throws in the ferocious alley-oop vs. the Lakers
Just when we thought it couldn’t get better, LeBron astounds the NBA fanbase once again, this time with a one-handed, cock-back slam off a Dwyane Wade alley-oop during the early portion of their wwin against the Los Angeles Lakers. It seems as if Wade purposely throws the pass behind James to showcase to the audience what his teammate is capable of doing.
6. JR Smith dunk vs Cavs: The Sequel
Anthony Bennett looks like an accident waiting to happen whenever he’s on the court. He has always has the look of someone who doesn’t want their assignment to get the ball, and is just trying to get off the court without embarrassing himself.
He played a few minutes too many against New York, allowing this crossover and baseline slam to J.R. Smith.
5. Blake Griffin baptizes Kris Humphries
I’ll leave it up to you to interpret. Because if Blake Griffin wasn’t already stretching the idea of a dunk with his shots that are just thrown into the basket really hard, he’s topped himself with whatever you wish to call this over Kris Humphries.
This dunk is even more debatable than the original poster over Timofey Mozgov. Griffin throws the ball through the rim even farther away than the dunk he had over Mozgov, worthy of a comparison to Dwight Howard‘s superman dunk back in the Slam Dunk Contest.
Either way, can we just agree that Humphries isn’t walking away from this play with his dignity in tact? Also, check out DeAndre Jordan’s reaction of “I can’t believe it happened again.”
4. Terrence Ross dunks on Kenneth Faried
The Toronto Raptors have been partaking in a lot of fun since the Rudy Gay trade.
Not only has the team been at the top of the Atlantic Division and actually improved since the deal, they also sent DeMar DeRozan to the All-Star Game and were witness to a 51-point game of Terrence Ross’.
Although he didn’t score 51 against the Nuggets, he did unleash one of the best poster dunks you’ll see this season with this full extension slam over Kenneth Faried on the break.
3. JJ Hickson dunks on Marvin Williams
I know it’s the right thing to do, but maybe just let this one slide next time, Marvin?
2.LeBron James throws in the off-glass alley-oop vs. the Lakers
As if he didn’t top himself a few nights prior when it came to his poster dunks, LeBron tops his cock-back alley-oop in the same game with one of the best off-glass alley-oops that has ever been executed.
Unlike either of the previous off-glass alley-oops the two have completed, this one came with actual defenders attempting to stop the play, rather than them trailing behind.
The idea itself to go off-glass on a fast break with defenders is incredible enough, but the way LeBron is able to jump off the wrong foot, catch the pass with his off-hand (if you wish to consider that he actually has an inferior hand), and then finish with his eyes closed.
1. Paul George unleashes the windmill 360
No comment necessary. Dunk of the year until further notice.
What do you think?
Follow John on Twitter at @JFriel1990.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
