Slam Dunk - Notable Dunks

Notable Dunks

Wilt Chamberlain was known to have dunked on an experimental 12-foot basket set up by Phog Allen at the University of Kansas in the 1950s. Michael Wilson, a former Harlem Globetrotter and University of Memphis basketball player, matched this feat on April 1, 2000 albeit with an alley-oop. Dwight Howard dunked on a 12 ft basket (as opposed to the standard 10 ft basket) in the 2009 NBA dunk contest also off an alley-oop.

Several notable and remarkable dunks have been performed by players at the annual NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Spud Webb at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) defeated 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Dominique Wilkins in the 1986 contest. Michael Jordan popularized a dunk referred to by some fans as the "Leaner". This dunk was so called because Jordan's body was not perpendicular to the ground while performing the dunk. TNT viewers rated it "the best dunk of all time" over Vince Carter's between-the-legs slam.

Vince Carter dunked while leaping over 7-foot-2 (2.18 m) French center Frédéric Weis in the 2000 Summer Olympics. The French media dubbed it "le dunk de la mort" — "the dunk of death." Carter used an elbow hang along with his reverse 360 windmill dunk and between-the-legs dunk. When performed, much of the audience was speechless, including the judges, because none had seen these types of dunks before (Carter's first round 360 windmill dunk is reminiscent of Kenny Walker's 360 windmill dunk in 1989 except that Carter spins clockwise, where as Walker spins counter-clockwise).

In the 2008 Sprite Rising Star's Slam Dunk Contest Dwight Howard performed the "Superman" dunk. He donned a Superman outfit as Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson tied a cape around his shoulders. Nelson alley-ooped the basketball as Howard jumped from just inside the foul line, caught the ball, and threw it through the rim. This dunk is controversial, as his hand was not over as well as on a vertical plane to the rim. Some insist that it should in fact be considered a dunk because the ball was thrust downward into the basket, meeting the basic definition of the dunk. During the following year's dunk contest, Howard had the arena bring a separate basket onto the court that was reported to be 12 feet high. Howard, after going into a classic telephone booth near the stands and coming out with his cape, used a pass from Nelson to easily dunk two-handed. While this was not performed for record-setting purposes, the dunk received a perfect score and a warm response from the crowd, in part because of its theatrics. Also in this contest, 5'9" guard Nate Robinson wore a green New York Knicks jersey and green sneakers to represent Kryptonite, counteracting Howard's Superman theme. He used a green "Kryptonite" ball, and jumped over the 6'11" Howard while dunking. This dunk essentially won the competition for Robinson, who was voted the winner by the NBA fans. Robinson then thanked Howard for gracefully allowing him to dunk on him, asking the crowd to also give Howard a round of applause.

The only player that has proven the ability to perform a 720 degree dunk (that is, two full turns in the air) is Taurian Fontenette also known as Air Up There during a Streetball game.