The NBA Slam Dunk Contest has a weird sort of mythology surrounding it, as if it’s an event that always exposes a great young player that will eventually go on to do great things. Sometimes, that’s how it works. Great players like Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have won the competition, after all.
Slam Dunk Contest History: Which Dunk Typifies The Event The Most?
But most of the time, the Slam Dunk Contest features random players doing weird dunks and then fading into obscurity. It’s an exciting event, but it’s also a hilarious event in a lot of ways. Most of the best dunks have already been done, so the players have to figure out how to put their own spin on the proceedings. That’s where you get all the props and gimmicks that look hilarious in the moment, but are also a little silly if you really think about it.
So as we close in on the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest, we want to remember some of the strangest dunks in the competition’s history and ask you, the reader, which one sums up the spirit of the event the most.
Dee Brown’s “no look” dunk, 1991
Dee Brown was probably the first dunk contest participant to embrace the silly side of the contest. On an earlier dunk, he reached down and pumped air into his shoe, so he could jump higher. This time, he decided to put his elbow over his face, as if putting the inside of your elbow over your eyes completely blinds you. Somehow, this was enough to take down Shawn Kemp, who is a way better dunker and who did some awesome things during this competition. And thus, the era of props and gimmicks was born.
Cedric Ceballos’ “blindfold” dunk, 1992
But at least Brown had a solid thing blocking his vision. Cedric Ceballos, on the other hand, decided to go with a really thin “blindfold” that really blocked nothing. Put it this way: if Ceballos really couldn’t see out of that thing, then he probably should have been declared legally blind. Naturally, he took a direct line right to the basket, and even knew exactly where the padding was once he landed.
Darrell Armstrong’s layup, 1996 (fast forward to the :11 second mark)
Well played, Darrell Armstrong. During an era where every dunk was simply a repeat of things done in the past, you decided to become the ultimate trendsetter. If I were the judge, I would have given you a 10. Alas, the judges weren’t impressed and did not let him win. An outrage, I tell ya.
Chris Andersen misses all his dunks, 2005
The dunk contest is about success, but it’s also about spectacular failures too. For every great dunk that’s completed, there are several that fail. Nobody failed more spectacularly than Chris Andersen in 2005. When it’s so bad that Cheryl Miller thinks she could do better, it’s probably time to just give up.
Gerald Green blows out the candle, 2008
Gerald Green might be the most Dunk Contest player of all time, and this dunk was so random that nobody knew exactly what happened until it was too late. Just listen to the TNT commentators. When the dunk was completed, they had no idea what happened until they put the replay on slow motion. Unfortunately, the dunk contest judges don’t necessarily have that luxury, so Green didn’t get a perfect score even though it was easily the most creative dunk of the competition.
Nate Robinson kryptonite dunk over Dwight Howard, 2009
This is when the dunk contest officially became too meta for its own good. Once you get to the point where the two finalists are collaborating on a dunk, you’ve taken the event to a place it never was meant to go. Oh, and Robinson used his arm to jump over Howard, so it shouldn’t count.
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