Nique was amazing in his day, but he was much taller and longer then Jordan. The thing about Jordan was he was that he has this insane killer instinct to go along with his ball handling and unbelievable athleticism. Dominique was just gorgeous to watch and he should have won that infamous dunk contest... But it was in Chi town.
I think he's got a point. If you want to talk about the most unstoppable dunkers the league has ever seen, Shaq was a lot scarier than any of those guys. It wasn't pretty, but it was devastatingly effective. If he was in position and he wanted to dunk, fouling was pointless. It depends on how you define "best dunker". Grace? No. Beauty? No. Elevation? No. Creativity? No. Hang time? No. Guaranteed points? Hell yes. If the end goal is to put a ball in a basket and not to look pretty, there's a decent argument for considering him the greatest dunker of all time.
I guess that's a good point. Given the general discussion I thought it was clear it was about all the things that Shaq didn't make the cut on. Anyways, we may soon have a watered down version of that on our team. Here's to Greg having the season we've all dreamed about.
What are you saying? That it's easier to draw charges or harder? It certainly seems that a lot of those dunkers dunking "on" somebody got away with offensive fouls. I wonder how much more Greg would've been scoring before they basically allowed zone defenses. He's a traditional center in a little man's era.
"Decent" because they're easy for you to rebut? You said nobody dunked in traffic and over people like Jordan. That's obviously false. My point was (as mook says) you have a standard of the "perfect dunk" that is tailored so that Jordan comes out on top. He's not the highest jumper, he's not the greatest power dunker, he's not the fastest guy to the hoop, but if you weight all of them just right, maybe you can come up with a scale that favors him best... I do agree that smaller men are more enjoyable to watch dunk, and dunking on someone (big) is more impressive. Which is why KJ's dunk on Olajuwon is the GREATEST EVAH! [video=youtube;ifx_gRF-ouU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifx_gRF-ouU[/video] I don't think I even knew KJ COULD dunk when I saw that. And Olajuwon used to lead the league in blocks and was rightful DPOY probably that same year. Hate KJ all you want for looking like an angry gerbil, but that was some impressive dunkage.
what the fuck were we thinking not drafting this guy again? I mean what the fuck over? Didn't Vitale or Knight say something like "They want a Center? Then have Jordan play Center!"
I'm amazed nobody has posted these: [video=youtube;9OPvh7jdeeo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OPvh7jdeeo[/video]
So we have candidates for: Best Effective Dunker: Shaq Best Highlight Dunker: Vince Best In-Traffic Dunker: MJ Best Dunker in Key Situations: MJ
I think this was part of one of the previous videos, but I thought it deserved its own spotlight. Due to his later career, people forget what an explosive athlete Pippen was and how he and Jordan were both great dunkers. [video=youtube;Rhd0ZFrb7y0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhd0ZFrb7y0[/video]
Too right 3, 2 and 1 were FUCKING SICK. I actually thought number 3 or 2 was the most insane. You have to put the Reign Man up there with MJ no doubt. I think 2 and 3 were maybe better then any of Jordan's. Again Kemp had 4 inches of height and mad length on MJ. Still those cradle rockers and reverse in traffic are insane. Probably my all time fave and a long time NBA on NBC intro piece was the no look look over the shoulder from Payton to Kemp at 1:20 [video=youtube;CZE-tGAB4uI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZE-tGAB4uI[/video]
VC in his athletic prime shit on Jordan, Kobe, and Lebron when it comes to dunking. I'd probably rank the three: 1. Kobe 2. Jordan 3. Lebron (solely based on dunking) [video=youtube;m6LChpQ2N9Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6LChpQ2N9Q[/video] [video=youtube;yN1Ion0xL_o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN1Ion0xL_o[/video] [video=youtube;Y2UF2juga60]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2UF2juga60[/video]
No way MJ was better more air and more creativity + dunking in traffic and at key points in games. Also LeBron is garbage compared to Kemp, Nique, MJ, Kevin Martin, Kevin Johnson and even John Starks for dunks in traffic and over defenders. Half of LeBron's dunks are off 3+ step travels and the parting of the red sea because people don't want to break a rib taking a charge that will inevitably be an and one. That brings up an interesting point that people seem to be scared of being on a Poster now days.
That's because big men who actually challenge dunks (and thus sometimes get dunked on), are ridiculed, like Ewing or Yao. I've seen many fans claim Yao is a shitty defender because he's been "posterized" so much. That's because Yao, a very good defender, actually is willing to take the risk in challenging. Most players step away from slashers to avoid a possibly embarrassing outcome.
Another example of pride over results. Like the lack of underhand free throws especially by big men. Shaq could have added 15 to 20% and therefore 5ppg easy if he had done it like was it West or Cousy?
I could care less at what point Jordan dunked in the game. Does dunking in the last 2 minutes of a game as opposed to the third quarter really make one a better dunker? Absolutely not. Also, Jordan had more air, but Kobe was the craftier and more creative one. Lebron was the more powerful one.
