Top 10 Dunkers of All Time?

[Noob Saibot]

Jason Richardson on people's lists In game dunks aren't nearly as good as anybody else on these lists.

I put him on my top 10 cuz he's one of the few nba players to win and participate in multiple dunk contest. When it comes to freestyle dunks, J-Rich is one of the best.

[Rake2204]

I put him on my top 10 cuz he's one of the few nba players to win and participate in multiple dunk contest. When it comes to freestyle dunks, J-Rich is one of the best.

I have to agree with you on that one. I think part of the issue is his dunking style (and his near inability to dunk off one foot) is not conducive to allowing him to dunk with great volume throughout the latter stages of his career. As such, I think some may have forgotten a little of what he was bringing to the table in-games during his Golden State years.

I think there's a few other dunkers I've seen mentioned in this thread I'd be more likely to question before Richardson (Nate Robinson for one).

A better quality video than the one I posted earlier of Richardson's Top 100 up to 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj7-lzaZ9QA

Richardson just seemed to have that dunking "it" factor for me. Other people windmill, other people 360 and other people double pump reverse off two feet, but outside of Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter, no one seems to be able to do it quite like Jason Richardson.

[hangintheair]

1. Vince Carter
2. Dominique Wilkins
3. Kobe Bryant
4. Michael Jordan
5. Shawn Kemp
6. Blake Griffin
7. Tracy Mcgrady
8. Clyde Drexler
9. Josh Smith
10. Wilt Chamberlain coz he dunks when shooting from free throw line..

[Toizumi]

I understand where you are coming from, but my personal qualifications (and most others) differ from what you're working with. I mean, volume counts for something to me, but mostly only in terms of meeting a minimum quota. For instance, Harold Miner likely would not find a place on my list because he just wasn't around long enough to have an in-game dunking impact.

Otherwise, how much a person dunked per field goal attempt is not necessarily a sign of an all-time great dunker to me. When I think great dunkers, I think those with the greatest style, flair, ability, situational finishes, elevation, power, and versatility are the ones I value most. If I went the Shaq route, I feel like we'd have to start considering players like Otis Thorpe, Kevin Willis, David Robinson and Alonzo Mourning, guys who dunked a lot (and dunked on people) but like Shaq, mostly did not contain a lot of the other characteristics I consider when listing great dunkers (while at the same time recognizing that O'Neal's performed 360's and reverses before).

I agree. Both quantity and quality taken into the equation. Dwight Howard has been the leader in dunks for the past few years, but he is nowhere near the top for me. Shaq however, did not just dunk a lot, he threw down a lot of nasty ones as well. The man was murderous. Carter has the best personal highlight real of all time in my opinion, but Shaq's is more than great as well. Take into account that he dunked much much more than Carter and he takes the top spot in my list, followed by Carter.

[mshahidz]

I must ask, I am fully aware of David Thompson's reputation and the stories of his leaping exploits, but I'm wondering, is there some hidden mixtape some of you guys have access to, or are you all just listing Thompson based on stories, rep, and hearsay? I feel as though I've seen footage of like, ten career David Thompson dunks. And to be very clear, that doesn't mean I don't think he was a great dunker, I was just wondering where you guys were coming from with your choices.

From the bit I've seen, I notice some pretty spectacular Thompson dunks (a couple of tip slams and a big fast break takeoff) and I know there's a pile of dunks of his I'll never see due to the lack of footage. But from what exists, I don't get any sort of feeling that'd make me want to include him as one of the top ten dunkers of all-time. For instance, if we were somehow able to compile all of Thompson's professional dunks onto one reel and we pitted that reel against, say, Dwyane Wade's clips, I don't feel like it'd even be a contest.

On the flip side, I think Julius Erving still stands the test of time. He performed a number of slams in certain situations that folks still haven't replicated today (ex: his cuff over Cooper). I'm just curious to see where you guys are coming from with DT.

Dr.J was the first guy to give the appearance of hang time and "gliding" int he air. He was buttery smooth....after that came Thompson who really made verticals a something of importance. If I'm not mistake, he was one of the first guys doing reverse dunks, put backs on the regular, and he's also the same guy who people rumoured to have touched the top of the backboard. In addition, i think he defied the "no dunking" rules in college ball which started the movement to allow dunking.
I tried to stay as non bias as possible basing a lot of it on importance to the game too....or else all the greatest dunkers would be the ones I've seen only.

[andremiller07]

Kinda suprised only 1 other person said Steve Francis I think hed right up there in the top 10.

[Rake2204]

I agree. Both quantity and quality taken into the equation. Dwight Howard has been the leader in dunks for the past few years, but he is nowhere near the top for me. Shaq however, did not just dunk a lot, he threw down a lot of nasty ones as well. The man was murderous. Carter has the best personal highlight real of all time in my opinion, but Shaq's is more than great as well. Take into account that he dunked much much more than Carter and he takes the top spot in my list, followed by Carter.

I respect your angle, though I do not ultimately agree. For me, the majority of O'Neal's slams were all of the same ilk: one hand power punch or two hand power punch, both often via dropstep or close two-foot takeoff. And that's surely not to say they weren't impressive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyGTLGKcSkI), it was just a lot of the same.

Further, I recognize O'Neal dunked on a lot of folks, but those slams didn't always seem to contain the same amount of otherworldly athletic prowess because, if we're honest, O'Neal was bigger than 99% of the players he competed against. His crushes would still wow me a lot of times (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaJrg2iwzvo) but it didn't seem to take a lot for the 7'1'' 300+ pound beast to make it happen. As such, Shaq posterizing Alonzo Mourning doesn't always have the same effect on me as when, say, Grant Hill makes it happen.

I also think I just place a heavier value on style, innovation, situation, and versatility than I do frequency and good versions of routine slams.

Dr.J was the first guy to give the appearance of hang time and "gliding" int he air. He was buttery smooth....after that came Thompson who really made verticals a something of importance. If I'm not mistake, he was one of the first guys doing reverse dunks, put backs on the regular, and he's also the same guy who people rumoured to have touched the top of the backboard. In addition, i think he defied the "no dunking" rules in college ball which started the movement to allow dunking.
I tried to stay as non bias as possible basing a lot of it on importance to the game too....or else all the greatest dunkers would be the ones I've seen only.

Yeah, I feel where you're coming from. I've read about David Thompson for many years and I hear stories about how people were blown away by his jumping ability. I've just never really been able to see any clips of his that made me step back and say, "Wow, he's got to be one of the 10 best of all-time." That doesn't mean he wasn't outstanding, he just didn't jump out at me, so to speak. Even in the dunk contest, when taking the origins of creativity into account, the slams Thompson put down didn't look athletically outstanding. That's why I was wondering if those who listed him were doing so as a "respect" sort of thing and merely going off the stories they heard.