Awesome dunker, but he missed the cut
As I was driving home from YaoButtaMing’s place the other day, on KNBR they were discussing what their current dream home run derby would be. They included Ken Griffey Jr, Vlad Guerrero, and some dark horse candidates Jonny Gomes and Oakland’s own Jack Cust. So I was thinking what could we do for hoops? Obviously, host a dream slam dunk contest. There have to be some basic ground rules, but other than that anything goes. So here are two rules I’m going to enforce to pick my field. The first rule is to have only 5 contestants that could compete now. The second rule is that one of them has to be a dark horse candidate. By dark horse, I mean that he’s not a big name with casual fans. He’s got to be someone who, if he participated, would seem to just come out of nowhere. So that’s it, 2 rules,
My picks after the jump, leave yours in the comments.
1) Vince Carter
This guy is still one of the best dunkers in the game, when he wants to be. He is my favorite dunker to watch and honestly, you can make an argument for him being the greatest dunker of all time. He’s got everything you would ever want in a dunker. He’s got power, he’s got crazy hops, and he’s just so smooth about it. The guy just looks good dunking in any type of situation. He looks good dunking on people, dunking on breakaways, dunking on putbacks, and best of all dunking in dunk competitions. There hasn’t been any other player that I can watch a lot of his dunks over and over and over and not get tired of seeing it. His performance in the 2000 dunk contest in Oakland was one of the greatest performances I’ve seen. Check the youtube-ness.
The Greatest Dunk Contest (I’ve Seen) Ever
Jumping over 7-footers is easy
2) LeBron James
What’s wrong with this guy? Participate in a dunk contest already. He’s always on the sidelines acting unimpressed by the participants. If he can do better, he needs to show us. His hops and power have me intrigued, but honestly, his in game dunks aren’t as impressive as other guys. He’s on this list because he potentially has the stuff to win it. The charisma and the style combined with his power could be a joy to watch in a dunk contest. If he wins a championship and a dunk contest, nobody will think of him as just a dunker. It’s for the fans and the fans want to see you dunk. Just do it.
This is just from warm-ups
Top 10 Dunks of his Career
3) Jason Richardson
You know all about this cat. Not much I need to say about him. Explosive. Graceful. Powerful. Mad leapers. Just watch the videos and you’ll see why he’s in my dream slam dunk contest.
"I'm seeing something i've never seen before"
4) Kobe Bryant
No matter what you think of him, he’s one of the most athletic players in the league. He’s ultra-smooth, ridiculously athletic, and can dunk with the best of them. He still does dunks that make you shake your head like, "how did he do that?" While he isn’t as explosive as he was earlier in his career, there’s nothing I’ve seen from anyone else that would not make believe that Kobe has a shot at winning this dream dunk contest.
Look out Dwight Howard
Top 10 Dunks of his Career
5) Darkhorse: James "Flight" White
This guy is absolutely amazing. Sick hops and hangtime. Too bad he can’t apply all that athleticism to an actual NBA game. 2 handed free throw line dunk? No problem. A windmill from the free throw line? He’s done it. A between the legs dunk from 15 feet out? He’s done that too. Just watch the videos.
We’ve seen these highlights posted on the site before, but I never get tired of watching them.
Oh my, oh my, oh my.
Just missed the cut
Tracy McGrady
Gerald Green
Andre Iguodala
Allright, it’s time for you to drop your dream slam dunk competition.
1) 5 players who could compete right now
2) One dark horse candidate