If you’re an NBA player, you’ll almost
certainly get dunked on sooner or later.
And some
of these poster dunks are so good and flat-out
disrespectful that they become a thing of
NBA legend.
Here is our list of the 10 most disrespectful
dunks in NBA history.
10) Paul George blows away Chris Andersen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFI4CJdX66Y
The battles between the Miami Heat featuring
a big three of Wade, James, and Bosh,
and the young Indiana Pacers led by rising
star Paul George were some of the best
playoff series in recent memory.
Despite still being a young rising star, George
had
enough confidence to go right at LeBron James.
In Game 2 of their 2013 playoff series,
George blew by Lebron and absolutely demolished
Heat’s Christian Andersen who tried
to block his dunk.
After getting the and-one dunk, he took the
time to enjoy the moment
because he knew very well what he just did.
Reggie Miller said it best right after the
play, “We are seeing a superstar in the
making”.
Even if you somehow didn’t know
about Paul George before, you certainly did
after this play.
9) Dwayne Wade spins and slams on Kendrick
Perkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUbQ2FMtaFI
With the formation of the Big Three in Miami,
Dwayne Wade took a back seat to LeBron
James but he still gave us regular reminders
of his incredible athleticism.
In a 2011
game against OKC, Wade got the ball and blew
right by James Harden.
He then spins
around Serge Ibaka who rotated over to help
and takes off immediately after.
In a
stunning display of body control and pure
athleticism, Wade jams all over Kendrick
Perkins for an and-one that left everyone
in the building in awe. Wade acted like it
was
just another day in the office for him, but
he couldn’t resist doing a little dance
in
celebration of his humiliation of Perkins
and the Thunder defense.
8) Michael Jordan finally scales Mount Mutombo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlwUFA5Sric
Dikembe Mutombo was a defensive powerhouse
and he finished his career with the
second-most blocks in NBA history.
During the 1997 All-Star weekend, Mutombo
was
claiming to Michael Jordan’s face that His
Airness never dunked on him.
As he would
quickly learn, it’s not a good idea to tell
MJ that he can’t do something on the basketball
court.
Jordan remembered this when they were playing
against Mutombo’s Hawks later
that same year.
Michael threw the ball in the post and cut
to the basket for a perfect
give-and-go.
The rim was in front of him and Mutombo was
waiting underneath.
In an
act of perfect revenge, Jordan posterized
Mutombo and then he hit Mutombo with his
own signature finger wag.
7) Michael Jordan humiliates the Knicks defense
and Patrick Ewing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=330HeLlv52U
In Game 3 of the 1991 playoff series between
the Knicks and MJ’s Bulls, Knicks had a
four-point lead in the second quarter.
They were playing a very tough brand of pressure
defense and the Bulls had trouble even getting
the ball across half court.
They
somehow managed to get the ball over the half-court
line and it found its way to
Michael.
The Knicks immediately doubled him and as
soon as Michael got away from
the double team, he was trapped in the corner.
He faked out the trap and got free with a
smooth spin move towards the baseline.
He was almost under the rim and Patrick
Ewing was waiting for him, but Jordan would
not be denied.
He took off and dunked
over Ewing to finish off a play where he humiliated
the entire Knicks defense in less
than seven seconds.
6) Blake Griffin soars over Kendrick Perkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxceMGQUXvk
Blake Griffin will always be known as a savage
dunker and in 2012, OKC’s Kendrick
Perkins was added to his list of victims in
grand fashion.
After a failed pick-and-roll
between Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, they
ran the same play again but with Blake
acting as the screener instead of Jordan.
This time, the play worked out perfectly and
Blake had a clear route to the basket.
Everyone in the building knew that we would
see
a dunk, but what followed was absolutely jaw-dropping.
Perkins rotated too late to stop
Blake, but he was just in time to end up on
a poster.
Blake jumped up so high that he
didn’t even dunk the ball but he threw it
through the hoop instead for an and-one.
All
that Perkins could do after that was stare
at the floor as Blake headed to the line.
5) DeAndre Jordan destroys Brandon Knight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFhFI2OYExk
When you have a passing genius like Chris
Paul and athletes like Blake Griffin and
DeAndre Jordan on the same team, you know
that you’ll get to see plenty of alley-oop
dunks.
That trio was the main reason why the LA Clippers
were known as Lob City for a
while.
On March 10 th , 2013, against the Pistons
we got to see them at their best.
As CP3
dribbled the ball along the sideline, a defensive
mix-up by the Pistons left a clear path
for Jordan to run to the rim.
CP3 threw up a lob to the charging Jordan
and Pistons
guard Brandon Knight made the mistake of jumping
in front of him.
Jordan caught the
ball and blew away Knight as he threw down
the dunk of the year.
This dunk would
forever mark Knight’s career and he probably
knew it as soon as he fell to the floor.
4) JR Smith takes flight over George Hill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL4BTnP2rdE
JR Smith’s incredible athleticism is often
overshadowed by his questionable decisions
both on and off the court.
In 2010, JR Smith produced one of the greatest
highlights of
his career in a game against the San Antonio
Spurs.
With just over six seconds left at
the end of the first quarter, JR dribbled
the ball across the court where Tony Parker
was
guarding him.
He got rid of Parker with a crossover and
bolted for the rim.
George Hill
tried to take a charge just as JR was taking
off from the dotted line.
Hill was too late to
set up and JR went right through him to throw
down a nasty two-handed dunk with the
foul.
The crowd went wild and JR took a moment to
enjoy their reaction before going to
the line.
3) Shaquille O’Neal throws down Chris Dudley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ICBi-ku-G0
Back in 1999, Shaq and young Kobe Bryant were
one of the best one-two punches in
basketball when they won three titles in the
next three years.
Young Kobe was still a
rising star in the league while Shaq was an
already established superstar.
Shaq was
scoring at will against most opponents and
very few players were actually able to slow
him down.
New York Knicks center Chris Dudley was not
one of those players.
On
March 23 rd , 1999, the Knicks faced the Lakers
in a very physical and emotionally
charged game.
In the 4 th quarter, Shaq got the ball in
the post and Dudley was guarding
him.
Shaq immediately went to work, backed Dudley
down, turned around, and dunked
right in his face with both hands.
To make matters worse, he pushed Dudley to
the
ground as he was landing.
Dudley never stood a chance and he threw the
ball at Shaq
as soon as he got up while shouting profanities.
Fortunately for Dudley, they didn’t get
into a fight but they both walked away with
a technical.
2) Shawn Kemp throws down a tomahawk on Alton
Lister
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2GaAWdHwsw
If you’re looking for a great athlete and
a disrespectful dunker, you need to look no
further than The Reign Man himself, Shawn
Kemp.
Kemp had no respect for defenders
that stepped in his way, especially when they
thought that they could stop him from
dunking.
In a 1992 matchup against the Golden State
Warriors, Kemp smelled blood
when he got the ball near the three-point
line and the path to the rim was fairly open.
Kemp immediately bolted towards the rim and
Alton Listen thought it was a good idea to
try and take a charge.
Before he could set up properly to take the
charge, Kemp already
took off and threw down an absolutely vicious
tomahawk dunk right in Liston’s face.
As
Liston was knocked back and fell to the ground,
Kemp even took the time to strike a
pose and taunt him.
Amazingly, he did not even get a technical
for that.
1) Scottie Pippen steps over Patrick Ewing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtOUpybXmzo
Scottie Pippen is often known as the Robin
to MJ’s Batman and people sometimes
underestimate just how great of a player he
was in his own right.
During a 1994
matchup with the Knicks, Pippen reminded the
world of his greatness.
After Oakley’s
shot was blocked, Pippen and two other Bulls
players ran a textbook three on three
transition.
Two passes later, Pippen got the ball and
Patrick Ewing had just set up under
his own basket.
Scottie didn’t care and he dunked right
in Ewing’s face, knocking him to
the ground.
To add insult to injury, Pippen then stepped
over him in one of the biggest
acts of disrespect in NBA history.
Ewing was understandably furious and it is
very
fortunate that this dunk did not start an
all-out brawl.
