Slam Dunk Contest

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The Slam Dunk Contest is an annual NBA competition held during the week of the NBA All-Star Game. The Contest was inaugurated by the American Basketball Association at its All-Star Game in 1976 in Denver, just as the slam dunk was legalized in the NCAA. It enabled players to showcase their dunking skills and try to out-dunk each other. However, this contest would be short-lived as the ABA merged the following year with the National Basketball Association. Realizing the popularity of slam dunks, the NBA soon created a contest of its own, which made its first appearance in 1984.

The very first slam dunk contest in 1976 at the ABA All-Star Game was won by Julius Erving.

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The NBA reintroduced the Slam Dunk Contest in 1984 at its birthplace in Denver. This paved the way for one of the most memorable slam dunks in NBA history, as Erving dunked from the free throw line. It would be a teammate who would prevent Wilkins from repeating as champ. His Atlanta Hawks teammate, Spud Webb, made history when he upset Wilkins in the final. Spud Webb became the shortest player ever to win the contest.

The Slam Dunk Contest had always been a big hit with fans but interest in the contest began to wane in the mid 1990s. Initially, it was some of the players who lost interest in competing. Most players cited concerns of injuries and others felt that all the different kinds of dunks had been exhausted. With most of the superstars choosing not to participate, lesser known players began to compete. This led to a watered-down competition. Players would win contests with boring or completely unoriginal dunks. It was during that year's contest that a young Kobe Bryant did a between the legs dunk that made him the winner. The rest of the competition (or lack thereof) had offered little variety to their dunks and this quickly led to fan criticism of it being "boring." The between the leg dunk was first performed by Orlando Woolridge in the 1984 dunk contest. Isaiah Rider revived that particular dunk in the 1994 dunk contest and named it the "East Bay Funk Dunk".

After a two season layoff, the NBA decided to bring the contest back. The initial contest after this was in 2000. It featured a great showdown between the eventual winner Vince Carter, his cousin Tracy McGrady, and Steve Francis, Vince Carter receiving a bounced alley-oop to put it between his legs and dunk it. However, the next four contests did not feature superstars and talks again began that maybe the contest should be eliminated. The main argument was that players could not really come up with any more dunks that people had never seen before, despite arguably innovative efforts by Jason Richardson in 2003 and 2004. The lack of A-list superstars willing to participate also hurt the appeal of the contest to fans.

In 2005, the Slam Dunk Contest returned to its birthplace in Denver and was reborn. With the spectacular dunks of that year's contest, there was buzz that the dunk competition could regain the popularity it had in the 1980s. Amare Stoudemire alley-ooping 360 off a headbutt from teammate Steve Nash; J.R. Smith putting it around his back and dunking, and the new champion, Josh Smith alley-ooping over Kenyon Martin all wowed the crowd with their maneuvers. With the change in the rules requiring an additional teammate starting in the second round, they proved that there were indeed many dunks that people had not done before. Stoudemire and J.R. Smith showed off original dunks that they had spent much time working on. Josh Smith received rave reviews when he did a tribute dunk to the man Dominique Wilkins while donning Wilkins' jersey. Smith's top dunk, arguably one of the best in recent history, shows him hovering over a seated Kenyon Martin as he glides through the air to the basket.

Again in 2006, the Dunk Contest in Houston, Texas revitalized the interests of audiences as 5'9" Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks took the title with a great dunk-off. One of his most exciting dunks was a high-flying dunk over former Slam Dunk Contest winner, 5'7" Spud Webb. The 2006 Slam Dunk Contest was also the first Dunk Contest in history to have a "Dunk Off", the equivalent to a Dunk Contest overtime, between Knicks point guard Nate Robinson and shooting guard Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers. Many fans argue that Iguodala should have won the contest, one of the reasons being that Robinson needed seventeen attempts before finally completing his dunk. Iguodala also pulled off a dunk where he started out of bounds from the right side of the baseline. Teammate Allen Iverson bounced the ball off the back of the right side of the backboard, then Iguodala caught the ball in mid-air behind the backboard, whirled around to the other side while ducking his head (to avoid colliding with the backboard) and dunked it with his right hand.

On February 17, 2007, the contest was held in Las Vegas. Judges for the event were all past winners: Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, Julius Erving, and Vince Carter. The title was taken by the Boston Celtics' Gerald Green, who, among other dunks, jumped over reigning champ Nate Robinson while covering his face - an homage to 1991 winner, Dee Brown, whose jersey Green had worn. He also scored a perfect fifty with his last slam, a blind windmill over a table. Other noteworthy dunks include a dunk by Orlando Magic forward Dwight Howard, who, while making his dunk, stuck a sticker with his smiling face on the backboard a reported 12'6" from the ground, two and a half feet beyond the regulation NBA rim.

  • 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest (Julius Erving) -- Reputedly the first slam dunk contest in history. It took place during the 1976 ABA All-Star Weekend. The contest featured a plethora of famous players including Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, and David Thompson. Julius Erving won the contest with his famous freethrow line slam.
  • 1996 Orchies Non-Stop Basketball Dunk Contest (Abdoul Bamba) -- A dunk contest taking place in Orchies, France which featured many of today's European dunking elite including Kadour Ziani, Solamon Sami, and Abdoul Bamba, all from the slam-dunking squad "Slam Nation". The contest was highlighted by a high level of competition from all the participants and featured many innovative jams. The eventual winner was Abdoul Bamba who won with his famous cartwheel dunk, where he caught a ball off the floor in mid cartwheel and slammed it home.
  • 2001 Mcdonalds All American High School Dunk Contest (David Lee) -- The 2001 High School Dunk Contest featured many great dunks but is most noted for creating a controversy with the victory of David Lee. While Lee had many strong dunks including an innovative faux-shoot alley-oop, bounce off the ground, between the legs slam, many viewers felt that dunking phenom James White with his powerful jams, including two amazing free-throw line dunk variations, deserved to win. The contest remains a judging controversy to this day.
  • 2003 SuperPages Slam Dunk Contest (Henry Bekkering) -- This Canadian dunk contest was made famous on the internet by the amazing dunks of 6'3" Henry Bekkering which included a windmill slam over a standing person and a left handed freethrow line dunk jumping off 2 feet. Video of the contest disseminated quickly across the internet and its fame led to a television appearance for Bekkering on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. Bekkering was later drafted as a kicker by the Calgary Stampeders in the 2007 CFL Draft.
  • 2005 City Slam Dunk Contest (Chris Lowery a.k.a. Skywalker) -- This nation-wide dunk contest culminated in championships at Chicago. The City Slam Championship featured many never before seen spectacular slams including a 360 between the legs dunk by Marvin Collins aka High Riser. The contest was won by Chris Lowery aka Skywalker when he jumped over a car and completed one of the best dunks ever in the city slam contest.

Windmill dunks are done when a player makes a circular motion with the ball while in the air before dunking it. These can either be done with one or two hands. Versions of this dunk include the Kiss the Rim, the reverse windmill (usually done with two hands), and the 360 windmill. Notable examples of this dunk are Dominique Wilkins's windmills during the 1988 and 1990 contest, Michael Jordan's kiss the rim during the 1987 and 1988 contest, Vince Carter's contest-winning 360 windmill in the 2000 contest, and James White's windmill from the free throw line in the 2006 NCAA Dunk Contest

360s, or "axles" (relative to spinning) are dunks where a player spins with his body for almost a full revolution. These can be seen either with one or two hands. There are a lot of 360 variations, including the reverse 360 windmill by Vince Carter in the 2000 slam dunk (where a player jumps in a reverse motion against his plain of motion), Terence Stansbury's "Statue of Liberty" 360, Air Up There's so called "720"[1], or double-axle, High Riser's 360 through the legs, the double pump done by Tracy McGrady in the 2000 slam dunk contest, Team Flight Brothers dunker Quinton Slaughter AKA Elevator's 540[2], and many more.

This is a dunk where the player jumps from the free throw line. The free throw line is, in the NBA, 15 feet away from the basket. George Siolos is known to have dunked from the foul line during warmups in the early years of the NBA [3]. At the University of Kansas, Wilt Chamberlain was able to dunk from the free throw line while starting his movement from within the free throw circle; this led to a rule change prohibiting shooting free throws by dunking the basketball [4].

Notable examples of this dunk in a slam dunk competition are Julius Erving during the 1976 ABA contest and the 1984 NBA contest, Michael Jordan during the 1985, 1987 and 1988 contests, Scottie Pippen during the 1990 contest, and Brent Barry during the 1996 contest, and former Cincinnati Bearcat James White who pulled off a between the legs dunk from the free throw line at his school's midnight madness.

Also known as "through the legs", or the "Rider" dunk ( after Isaiah Rider, the first dunk champion to perform this dunk). This dunk was first performed by Orlando Woolridge of the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 dunk contest. For this dunk the ball goes between the legs of the player while in the air before being dunked. Visually impressive, these usually achieve a high score from the judges. Notable examples of this dunk include Vince Carter's off the floor, between the legs during the 2000 contest, Desmond Mason's "show it right, slam it left" between the legs during the 2003 contest, and Jason Richardson's off the glass, between the legs during the 2004 contest, and Isaiah Rider's "East Bay Funk Dunk" in the 1994 contest.

Nowadays, the Rider has been developed to more than just its basic movement. Several people in the world have managed to do a 360 rider : Abdoul Bamba from the Slam Nation dunking troupe, Yann de Blaine of Slam Nation and Dunkalicious dunking crews,Guy Dupuy also from the Slam Nation dunking crew, Taurian Fontenette aka Air Up There from the AND 1 Streetball team, "High Riser" from the 2005 City Slam, and Quinton Slaughter also known as Elevator. An alley-oop-off-the-floor 360 between the legs was attempted by Jason Richardson in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest, but he couldn't succeed any time he tried, thus leading to his defeat by then-Indiana Pacers guard Fred Jones. James White, currently of the San Antonio Spurs, attempted a through the legs dunk from the free throw line during the college slam dunk contest. Although he was not successful during the contest, he did succeed in doing it during warm-ups, and had done it in the past, during his high school's midnight madness, and the high school dunk contest.

A double clutch dunk is when a player brings the ball back to his body before extending the ball back out to dunk it. Versions of this dunk include the kickback, the jackknife, and the double pump. Most times the ball is brought back near the player's head before being dunked. Notable examples include Michael Jordan's double clutch, free throw line dunk from the 1988 contest, Tracy McGrady's 360 reverse double pump from the 2000 contest, Steve Francis's double pump, kiss the rim from the 2000 contest, Shawn Kemp's kickback from the 1991 contest, and Harold Miner's reverse jackknife from the 1993 contest. Vince Carter also did a dunk similar to a double clutch in a game over Alonzo Mourning.

Also known as Rock the Baby. This is a version of the windmill where the ball is "locked" into a player's wrist while the player makes a circular motion with the ball. However, unlike windmills where the ball starts the circle from the top, rock the baby dunks start the circle from the bottom. Notable examples include Larry Nance's rock the baby during the 1984 contest and Kenny Walker's baseline rock the baby during the 1989 contest.

Another popular type of dunk. The player throws the ball and bounces it off the backboard, catches it in mid air and dunks it. This can be combined with other types such as the windmill, reverse or tomahawk dunk. One of the first uses of this dunk in a professional game was done by Tracy McGrady in the 2002 All-Star Game. According to Bill Walton, it was the first time he ever saw this kind of dunk. In recent years, many other "alley-oop" dunks have become commonplace in the contest, where either the player tosses the ball to himself, or a teammate passes it to him, and the player catches it in the air and dunks it. For instance in 2006, Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers performed a never-before-seen behind the backboard dunk from a pass off team-mate Allen Iverson. A year earlier, in the 2005 Slam Dunk Contest, Amare Stoudemire actually caught the ball off of the head of Steve Nash, which is perhaps the most unusual variation of the "alley-oop" style of dunk to date.

One particularly tricky and therefore seldom-seen dunk is the dunk without visual cues. In 1991, Dee Brown performed a one-handed slam dunk in which he dunked with his left arm while shielding his eyes with his right arm. This was known as the "peek-a-boo" by many. One year later, Cedric Ceballos performed a blindfolded dunk, although it has been disputed as to whether or not he could actually see. In 2007, Boston Celtic Gerald Green, re-invented Dee Brown's "shielded eyes dunk" (wearing Dee Brown's throwback jersey and Reebok pumps), adding a twist to it by jumping over defending champ Nate Robinson before completing the dunk.

Also known as the "Honey Dip", "Rim Hook" or the "Arm in the Rim", this is a highly spectacular dunk where a player jumps up so high that he is not only able to put the ball, but also his forearm through the hoop, leaving him hanging off the rim off his elbow. It was first demonstrated in public by Vince Carter in the 2000 edition of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and is considered virtually unique. Gerald Green also did this in the National High School Dunk Contest during his senior year, Henry Bekkering performed it during the SuperPages dunk contest, and it is also done by others. It is considered amazing, and a dunker is considered a "high flyer" if they can perform this dunk.

Behind the Back dunks consists of the dunker putting the ball behind his back, switching from right-hand-to-left, or vice versa, and then dunking it. This dunk was made popular by players such as Patrick Ewing, Jr., Denver Nuggets J.R. Smith, and Philadelphia 76ers Andre Iguodala. Nick Young, a former USC Trojan basketball player, was able to complete a 360 behind the back dunk during one of the Trojan's open practices.

  • The first free throw line dunk in an official slam dunk competition by Julius Erving (1976 ABA Dunk Contest).
  • The free throw line double clutch jam by Michael Jordan (1988 NBA Dunk Contest).
  • The first 720 (540 to be exact, although he did complete a 720 "after" the dunk was completed) slam dunk by Taurian Fontenette
  • The East Bay Funk Dunk by Isaiah "J.R." Rider (1994 NBA Dunk Contest).
  • The between the legs dunk by Vince Carter (2000 Slam Magazine "World's best dunker")
  • Vince Carter's inverted 360 Windmill (which drove everybody off their seats), the off the bounce, between the legs dunk.
  • The tomahawk by Vince Carter in the 2000 contest, which left Vince hanging on the rim with his elbow.
  • The 2003 reverse between the legs and the 2004 off-the-backboard between the legs dunks by Jason Richardson.
  • Plus, Vince Carter's dunk over Frédéric Weis of The French national team in the 2000 Olympics. This is considered the greatest dunk, possibly greatest sports highlight, of all time.
  • The behind the back dunk by Patrick Ewing, Jr., done again by J.R. Smith (2003 Indiana Hoosiers Slam Dunk Contest, then 2005 NBA Slam Dunk Contest). The behind the back dunk was modified in the 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest by Andre Iguodala when he dunked it off an alley-oop.
  • Also in the 2005 NBA Contest, the dunks using a prop from Josh Smith and Amare Stoudemire (read below for more information).
  • The first "Rider"(Between the legs) dunk from the free throw line was completed by James "Flight" White.
  • In the 2006 NCAA Dunk Contest, James "Flight" White completed a windmill from the free throw line.
  • 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Nate Robinson jumps over Spud Webb and then dunks.
  • 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Andre Iguodala's alley-oop dunk from behind the backboard.
  • 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Dwight Howard's "Sticker Dunk." Howard had a sticker in his hand, stuck it at 12'6" on the backboard while dunking simultaneously off an alley-oop from teammate Jameer Nelson.
  • Dwight Howard's kiss the rim dunk

 It has been suggested that this list should be changed into a table format to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
This list may be better presented as a table. Please help improve this list, prune it, or discuss it on the talk page.
  • ESPN televised the first ever NBA slam dunk contest in 1984. In 1987, the slam dunk contest was televised live for the very first time (TBS had the honors).
Nate Robinson dunks over Spud Webb
Nate Robinson dunks over Spud Webb
  • Slam dunks during contests can also involve the ball being tossed off a prop. Most times the ball will be tossed off the backboard, or the floor. However in the 2005 NBA Slam Dunk contest, Amare Stoudemire tossed the ball off the backboard, which in turn bounced off teammate Steve Nash's head before being dunked by Amare.
  • Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Brent Barry are the only players to have won a NBA championship and a slam dunk championship. Jordan was the first (he won his slam dunk championship in 1987 and 1988 and won his NBA championships 1991-1993 and 1996-1998). Kobe won his Slam Dunk Championship in 1997 and his NBA championships in 2000-2002. Brent Barry won his slam dunk championship in 1996 and his NBA championships in 2005 and 2007.
  • Dominique Wilkins holds the record of participating in the most NBA slam dunk contests. He has participated in 5 slam dunk contests.
  • At 5'7", Spud Webb is the shortest player that has been able to win the NBA slam dunk contest.(Nate Robinson was 5'7 3/4")
  • The Atlanta Hawks have had the most NBA slam dunk champions with a total of three players as slam dunk champions (Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, and Josh Smith.)
  • The showdown between Dominique Wilkins and eventual champion Michael Jordan in the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest is widely considered to be the best slam dunk contest ever. Famous dunks during their epic showdown include Wilkins's off-the-glass, one-handed tomahawk, Jordan's reverse double pump, Wilkins's trademark windmill, and Jordan's immortal double-clutch, free throw line dunk.
  • Because of the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, many people have named Vince Carter as the greatest dunker of all-time. His dunks of a 360-windmill, 180 behind the backboard windmill, between the legs (with assist from his cousin and then teammate Tracy McGrady), a normal one handed dunk that ended with Vince hanging from the rim with his elbow, and a 13.5 feet two handed dunk have awed spectators to date.
  • Historically, the dunk contest drew some mild criticisms. One of those includes how the dunk contest is extremely limited as there are so many times one can be impressed with a 360 dunk or a slightly modified windmill. Because of the physical limitations of the human body, innovation can become dry very quickly. But the 2005 NBA Slam Dunk Competition proved that there is room for innovation, especially using props. Another criticism is that players who often compete in these contests are seen as dunkers only (with obvious exception to Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, and Julius Erving), which is why notable high flying athletes like Shawn Marion have sometimes refused to participate. High profile players such as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have also declined to participate citing it as an unnecessary risk to injury. In the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Tracy McGrady injured his wrist while performing a dunk.
  • The 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Competition between Nate Robinson and Andre Iguodala was the first time ever that the competition had to go into a sudden-death dunk-off. [1] However, this contest drew many criticisms due to the fact that players were not penalized for missing a dunk attempt. Consequently, Robinson attempted a single dunk over 14 times before completing it.[2] Prior to the 2007 competition, the NBA changed a few rules to prevent excessive dunk attempts. Each participant has two minutes to complete their dunk. At the end of the two minutes allotted, they then have their number of dunk attempts limited to two.
  • Brent Barry is the only caucasian player to win an NBA Slam Dunk Competition.

  1. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGaHpexp2-4
  2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWGR4Tiga5o
  3. ^ Official NBA Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, p. 49)
  4. ^ The Leaping Legends of Basketball, The Los Angeles Times; Feb 12, 1989; Scott Ostler
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