The league was much tougher then. I remember an interview w/Al Attles about 10 years ago. A female reporter was asking him why in his era, players couldn't dunk like they do now. He just smiled and said 'It's not that we couldn't, it's that we didn't because you knew next time you tried that you'd get to know the floor up close and personal'
Who Will Be The Lakers Next Head Coach
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About dunking ...back then people dunked and dunked a lot ... Some guys would dunk and you would not mess with them .. Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins for one or Moses Malone or even the Round Mound of Rebound aka Charles Barkley .. meanwhile there were a wild bunch of high flyers back in these days Dominique Wilkins aka "The Human Highlight Film" or Julius Doctor "J" Ervin ... David "Skywalker" Thompson, Clyde " The Glide" Drexler, Connie Hawkins ...
To this day I still believe Julius and 'Nique are the best I have seen .. MJ and Vince Carter are up there and Darryl Dawkins the most powerful dunker ever .. routinely destroyed backboards ...
To this day I still believe Julius and 'Nique are the best I have seen .. MJ and Vince Carter are up there and Darryl Dawkins the most powerful dunker ever .. routinely destroyed backboards ...
Nope Steve the Chocolate Thunder was a spectacular dunker .. Grace .. Elevation power ... I mean not a big guy just dunking the Ball Watch this
When it comes to serious dunking Shaq isn't close .. Dawkins is recognized as one of the best dunkers the game has known ... a big guy: 6'11" of muscular power
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Dawkins had power, no doubt, but he would not even crack the top 10 of the greatest dunks or the greatest dunkers of all time.
You got Michael, Vince (anyone remember the dunk in the dunk contest when he put his arm up to his elbow through the rim?), 'Nique, Dr. J., Shawn Kemp, LBJ, Clyde Rexler (not a misspelling: anyone remember when Olajuwon noted when they were teammats, Clyde played no D), Skywalker, Kobe, Connie Hawkins, Amar'e, and many others.
And then there is the greatest dunk of all time by IMO the number 1 dunker of all time if we're not looking to actual in game dunks but instead the dunk contest itself. Y'all know who I'm talkin' about!
You got Michael, Vince (anyone remember the dunk in the dunk contest when he put his arm up to his elbow through the rim?), 'Nique, Dr. J., Shawn Kemp, LBJ, Clyde Rexler (not a misspelling: anyone remember when Olajuwon noted when they were teammats, Clyde played no D), Skywalker, Kobe, Connie Hawkins, Amar'e, and many others.
And then there is the greatest dunk of all time by IMO the number 1 dunker of all time if we're not looking to actual in game dunks but instead the dunk contest itself. Y'all know who I'm talkin' about!
Ron
Please let's not forget Larry nance and Shawn Kemp, I see you remember David "Skywalker" Thompson .. David Thompson did touch the top of the backboard in a a game .. For many he might well have been the best college Player of all time ... In his time Vince was close to to an anomaly with his exploits ...
I can't understand people comparing the grace of of Kobe dunks to LBJ, however good that he is at times ...
I would agree with you that Dawkins wasn't as good as the guys you mentioned but no one his size has been such a leaper, save maybe for Dwight Howard. too bad his injuries cut his career short ... And he Was fun with his dunks having a name " Go - Rilla" and my favorite: "Dunk you very much"
I don't know whom you talking about No 1 dunker .. Dr J?
Please let's not forget Larry nance and Shawn Kemp, I see you remember David "Skywalker" Thompson .. David Thompson did touch the top of the backboard in a a game .. For many he might well have been the best college Player of all time ... In his time Vince was close to to an anomaly with his exploits ...
I can't understand people comparing the grace of of Kobe dunks to LBJ, however good that he is at times ...
I would agree with you that Dawkins wasn't as good as the guys you mentioned but no one his size has been such a leaper, save maybe for Dwight Howard. too bad his injuries cut his career short ... And he Was fun with his dunks having a name " Go - Rilla" and my favorite: "Dunk you very much"
I don't know whom you talking about No 1 dunker .. Dr J?
Frantz, play the video in my last post. Superman is up so high he throws the ball with a vicious ferocity downward from a foot or two away from the hoop. Best dunk I've ever seen. For perspective on what I mean by *ever*, the Lakers have always been my favorite team because they were my home team, and I'm not talkin' L.A. but rather the city where I was born and from whence their name originated.
Ron the difference is Superman does that for thw Slam Dunk contest so indeed it is well rehearsed many times over. Now he is still an incredible player with IMO the best shoulders in the NBA however the others mentioned above did this in games night after night
I thought I'd add, though, that if you look at that dunk as well as the sick dunks he did in the '09 dunk contest, it is arguable that even with practice no other NBA'er could do what he did. All of the dunks that MJ, Kemp, et al., have done, either in games or in contests, have been duplicated by others.
Have good memories of those players who dunked well as mentioned above. To add, how about Spud Webb at 5'7" and Nate Robinson at 5'9" actually succeeding in dunking the ball, let alone winning the dunking contest. I'm 5'10" and I had never touched the rim with my own power. LOL. And how bout those dunks by these fellas wherein the ball goes under between their legs in mid-air, and BAM!, into the ring. Amazing for such 'small' players.
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