So apparently some guy in L.A. had a MONSTER dunk against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday that set the internet and twitter ablaze with excitement. You may have seen it.
As a result of all the buzz, most of Tuesday I found myself nostalgically talking about and watching past facials of old.
Which led me to thinking: what are the greatest Nets in-game dunks of all-time? I reached out to the fellow Nets Are Scorching writers and our readership and got back some great responses (thanks to all those who submitted!) and compiled this list. Enjoy.
(Note: I opted against limiting these or giving them any kind ranking. So these are in no particular order. Just go through and enjoy all the rim-rattling dunking goodness.)
Vince Carter’s Mourning Rise:
First of all, Vince is one of the greatest throw down artists of all-time, so you will see him featured a lot in this. Love everything about this dunk. Love that it was on Alonzo Mourning. Love RJ’s fist pump afterwards. Love that he seemingly got higher after he made contact with Mourning. Love that the play started with VC going behind the back. Love it all.
Stephon Marbury’s Over The Shoulder Alley:
We had Steph before he was vilified throughout the league and his reputation was ruined. When Marbury was a Net, he was still considered an exciting up and coming star. He made highlight worthy plays nightly, but this was probably his shiniest moment. Here he show’s off his ridiculous hops and in air ingenuity. Bonus points for receiving the pass from Stephen Jackson.
Richard Jefferson’s NBA Finals Flush:
Richard Jefferson was always a fearless dunker when he was with the Nets. Not gifted with as much hops as his dunking partner in crime Vince Carter, Jefferson made up for it with ferocity. This dunk also gets extra credit for the stakes of the game being the NBA Finals.
Chris Morris’ Backboard Buster:
For commentary on this dunk, I’m going to throw it to the great Mark Ginocchio:
“I know Chris Morris is a loser and this dunk probably has more to do with the shoddy equipment at the Meadowlands, but it has to be included.”
Perfect.
Kenyon Martin’s Leaner:
Our first KMart entry. Nobody was fiercer as a finisher than KMart when he was in his prime and I use the word “prime” lightly. But still, 75% of Martin’s game was predicated on the flush and he filled the lane with the best of them. And this particular dunk was a step inside the foul line and practically over somebody (who research tells me it was Damon Jones, but feel free to fact check that.) Once again, Captain Jack on the dish.
Deron Williams’ One Hand Slam:
The most recent entry came from last night’s game. Deron Williams who is not necessarily known for explosive athleticism gets himself a full head of steam and decides to go up and challenge 7’2″ Roy Hibbert. Point guard dunks are always a little extra fun because it’s nice when the “little guy” picks on the big guy. Hibbert comes out on the losing end in this one as Williams dunks it, basically on him.
Terrence Williams’ Rocket Windmill:
TWill had other dunks that could have been considered, but I felt this windmill against the Rockets was the best one. First of all, it takes a lot of guts and confidence to even attempt a windmill in a game, so just pulling it off is enough. But TWill took off from a decent distance and threw down with enough authority to earn a 40 in a dunk contest.
Ed O’bannon’s Tree Climber:
Excuse the poor quality of this video, but it’s a throwback. And I know what you’re thinking – Who hasn’t dunked on Shawn Bradley? But, the guy is 7’6″ so getting one down on him is a resume builder. O’bannon’s career didn’t really pan out, but, he does have this little gem to hang his hat on.
Derrick Coleman’s Finger Waggin’ Fury:
There is about 50 things that come to mind if you would have said to me the words: “Derrick Coleman” and “dunk”, and most of those have to do with donuts. But, Derrick Coleman does have a vicious throw down on his resume. This one, that was on Shaq of all people (Shaq’s had his own dunking highlights at the Meadowlands BTW) is just a snap shot into why DC was such a frustrating player for Nets fans, because moments like these reminded you of his immense talent. Got to love the Dikembe Mutomboesque finger wag after the fact.
VC’s Argentine Embarrassment:
The title of this video just about says it all, but it seemed like Carter went up expecting to have to fend off Andre Nocioni, but halfway up he realized his elevation was going cause Nocioni to be irrelevant. Grade A flush.
RJ’s Bosh Bash:
After scouring YouTube and asking for suggestions, I have to say, I slightly forgotten how good a finisher Richard Jefferson actually was. It’s possible his dunking acumen will end up being slightly underrated when his career is over because Jefferson honestly had a bunch to choose from. I really like this one because of the height of his jump, the authority with which he threw down and the post dunk primal scream.
The Alley-Oop Section:
There was a lot of internal debate about whether to count “great alley-oops” as “great dunks” also, even if it was the pass that was spectacular and the dunk was just ordinary.
Pairing Jason Kidd, who is a passing wizard, with finishers like Vince Carter, Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson is obviously going to result in a boatload of alley-oops, which it did. Some of the oops speak a lot more to Kidd as a brilliant passer (seriously, how many times can you throw it off the backboard and at how many different angles?) more than the dunks themselves, so I just decided to throw them all into section. (Marbury’s alley-oop made the other section because I thought the dunk itself was impressive, not the pass. And because I believe it is an “iconic” dunk in Nets history.)
So that’s all for now. Quite an impressive collection and a great reminder of some of the more hair-raising dunk finishes the Nets have had.
I’d like to make this a “living document” and would love to continue to add more and more selections to it, either as they’ve happened or ones I’ve missed. If you know of any dunks I missed, that should be included here, tweet the YouTube link to me: @justindefeo and I will gladly continue adding.
