Blake Bullarkey: Top 5 Dunks In The History Of Hoops
It's always uncomfortable -- if not downright ignorant -- to agree with blowhard Stephen A. Smith. But I'm with him on this:
What the Clippers' Blake Griffin performed Monday night was: Epic. Jaw-dropping. Unprecedented. But, um, sorry, it wasn't a dunk.
Griffin scored two points over the Thunder's posterized Kendrick Perkins but his fingers barely grazed the rim.
His hand was never inside the cylinder. Griffin's head was over the rim and he hung in the air for what seemed like three seconds, but what he did wasn't a dunk, but more so an impressive shot of throwing the ball down through the basket.
The Mavs' Dirk Nowitzki, who probably doesn't have five dunks in his entire career, disagrees with me. He Tweeted of the play: Watched blakes dunk over and over again. Almost makes me wonder if me and him even play the same sport. What an athlete
Here at Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis an audible roar spread through our hotel hallway as Griffin turned his trick. But I've been watching the NBA religiously since 1972 and Blake's blam isn't even among the top 5 dunks I've seen. And, please, don't bring this week's LeBron James alley-oop over John Lucas. James tipped down a perfect pass, by jumping over an unsuspecting point guard. Impressive? Not even close.
At this rate Blake Griffin might own the Top 5 all-time dunk all by himself before he's done. But for now, he hasn't wowed more than these:
5. Tom Chambers dunks on four Celtics
– Including the legendary threesome of Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Give me time, situation and defender over some high-flying, soaring score.
4. Michael Jordan over Patrick Ewing
– Jordan won dunk contests, but nothing compares to him slamming down over perennial All-NBA First-Team Defender Ewing in the '91 Playoffs.
3. Vince Carter's 7-foot hurdle
– Back when he had hair and hops, the Maverick dunked over a 7-foot-2 Frenchman in the '00 Olympics.
2. Dr. J rocks the cradle
– At a key moment in the NBA Finals, Julius Erving punctuates a steal with an emphatic slam over Lakers' Defensive Player of the Year Michael Cooper.
1. John Starks in Jordan's mug
– Starks was a 6-foot-3 guard. He was right-handed. But in the final minute of a '93 playoff game against Michael Jordan's Three-Peat Bulls, Starks drove baseline and slammed -- lefty, mind you – in the face of Horace Grant and His Airness himself.
