Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesThe NBA features some of the most exciting athletes in the world, and the premiere athletic play is the dunk. There’s no shortage of dunks in the NBA, but they are certainly not created equally. Watching LeBron James soar through the air with such speed and grace only to finish with remarkable power is a thing of beauty.
What have been the 10 most impressive poster dunks of the 2012-13 season thus far?
Poster dunks, although the term is becoming obsolete, refer to that special moment when an NBA player goes up for a picturesque dunk that makes for a great poster. Perhaps the term should be wallpaper dunks or YouTube dunks at this point. Then again, some have changed the name to getting Mozgov’ed.
In any event, let’s take a look at some of the best dunks we’ve seen in the 2012-13 season.
LeBron James Plays Basketball, While Ryan Anderson Plays Tag
LeBron James could make up his own highlight reel, and that’s why he finds himself in situations like this so often. As the lane opens, James penetrates and everyone gets out of the way. Everyone except Ryan Anderson, that is.
For some reason, Anderson gives James a light tap on the hip. Even the “good job, good effort” kid would have booed Anderson off the court for his “display” of defense. Either completely stay out of the way or get in there and mix it up. Anything between there just looks foolish.
One thing that needs to be mentioned is the speed of James. These are world-class basketball players, and he makes them look like they’re standing still. A regular person might have made it to the free-throw line before the lane collapsed. That’s why he’s the MVP.
LeBron James Reverse Alley-Oop
Here we have the Miami Heat taking on the Boston Celtics on opening night. LeBron James brings the ball up the right side of the court and passes off to Chris Bosh at the top of the key. James takes off down the right side with Mario Chalmers setting a terrific back pick.
James gets the separation he needs, and Bosh puts it on the money for a terrific alley-oop.
For those who have never dunked a basketball, it’s impossible to fully grasp how difficult these types of dunks really are. For LeBron James to soar through the air at full speed, make a half-turn to catch the ball, then dunk it with power behind his head, is remarkable.
It’s hard enough to pull these off in practice with no defenders on the court. To pull it off during a game, with Jeff Green trying to recover and jumping to knock the ball away or nudge James just enough to send him crashing to the ground, is worth lots of praise.
Jeff Teague over Kevin Durant
Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks is no stranger to making highlights. Sometimes it goes well, as in this highlight, but sometimes, it ends badly, like the one in this video.
Teague is listed at just 6’2″, yet he is confident enough to take the ball directly at Kevin Durant, listed at 6’9″. It seems like a bad idea, doesn’t it? Yet Teague shows that he can fly and takes advantage of a distraction on the play.
Watch Kyle Korver inadvertently trip going through the lane. As he slides, it distracts Kevin Martin, who might have been able to step in and take a charge. For a laugh, take a good look at Martin’s face as Teague goes up for the jam. The pain in his face is priceless.
Vince Carter Still Has It…
Vince Carter is all over the list of of best dunks in NBA history. Remember when he jumped over a seven-footer in the Olympics? That was quite a few years ago, but Carter still knows how to get to the basket, and apparently, he can still get up when he needs to.
On this play, Carter takes advantage of some of the worst perimeter defense that’s ever been shown, but waiting for him at the rim is Bismack Biyombo. Don’t forget, Biyombo is 6’9″ and blocked 115 shots as a rookie during the 2011-12 season.
Doesn’t matter who the defender is here; Carter gets up and seems to hang in the air long enough to slam it down hard. A little posing afterwards is called for when you make a play like this.
Dwyane Wade Intimidates Jared Dudley
Poor Jared Dudley. He’s such a hard worker and does so many little things on the court, but he laid out the red carpet on this one. The good news is, he had LeBron James nicely boxed out, you know, in case Wade missed the dunk.
The play starts with solid defense for the Miami Heat, as they closed in on Michael Beasley and forced a bad shot. Chris Bosh gets the loose ball and lays it off to Mario Chalmers, who spots Wade in the open court. Really, this shouldn’t have been much of a fast break. If Dudley stopped the ball, Marcin Gortat would have gotten back in time to help.
Nobody wants to be a part of someone else’s highlight reel or poster, but Dudley probably could have given a better effort. Instead, Dudley decided to simply watch. I’m sure Suns coach Alvin Gentry loved that one.
DeQuan Jones Questions Andre Drummond’s Defense
This one comes to us from the preseason. DeQuan Jones of the Orlando Magic decided to challenge Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons. It didn’t go so well for the No. 9 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
In fact, you can see Drummond finds himself in limbo here. He lackadaisically follows Jones around the corner and believes he’ll be able to recover quickly, as he did in college. Instead, he gets a rude welcome to the NBA in the form of a poster dunk.
As Drummond tries to pursue Jones, he looks as if he’s going to make a strong attempt to block the shot, then for some reason, he bows out and protects his head. I bet he didn’t think his first poster would be him ducking out of the way.
Jeff Teague Deserves Two Points over Marcus Morris
Even though this play didn’t count as a basket, it definitely counted as a tremendous play. Jeff Teague runs the high pick-and-roll with Zaza Pachulia, and inexplicably, Cole Aldrich of the Houston Rockets decides to play the matador defense.
Teague has a straight line to the rim once he turns the corner and nearly leaps over Marcus Morris. Teague was called for an offensive foul, but as far as charges go, this one was pretty weak. He barely caught him with his inside leg, and Morris went flying as if Teague ran directly into him.
This clip will live on, and nobody will remember if it counted or not. We will remember the athleticism and power with which Teague used to throw it down.
Thomas Robinson Goes Stealth Mode over Dwight Howard
To be fair, this was Dwight Howard‘s first game back from his back surgery. However, that really doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be boxing out. He’s one of the most prolific defensive rebounders in the league, but this wasn’t one of his brighter moments.
Thomas Robinson of the Sacramento Kings took advantage of Howard’s lackadaisical attempt at the rebound with a tremendous put back dunk that will likely be one of the highlights of his year.
It’s so satisfying when even the away crowd gives a collective “ooooh!” after an awesome play like this. With all of the shots that the Kings will be missing this year, Robinson should have lots of opportunities to do this. Bet they won’t be against Howard, though.
Blake Griffin Makes Amazing Look Routine
It’s a bit unfair for Blake Griffin, but we’ve become so accustomed to seeing amazing dunks from him that this one looks somewhat routine. In fact, this dunk has a high degree of difficulty.
Griffin makes David Lee look foolish with a drive to the baseline, finishing with a two-handed reverse dunk. The high difficulty comes into play with where Griffin took off. He jumped from behind the basket without any real momentum. That means it was pure athleticism and desire.
For a team that’s supposed to be preaching better defense, you’d think there would have been someone in the paint to help out. It was a relatively slow developing play, but Lee was left on an island against an opponent that will beat him nine times out of 10.
Tim Duncan Puts Serge Ibaka in His Place
People have been shoveling dirt on Tim Duncan for five years now, and Duncan continues to brush it off while continuing to produce at a high level. Serge Ibaka almost won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2011-12, and Duncan made him look like a newbie.
Duncan doesn’t do this on a nightly basis, partly because he doesn’t have to. On this play, he finds himself alone in the paint when the pass arrives. After going through a YMCA-quality defensive attempt by Kevin Martin, Duncan goes straight up to the hoop, where Ibaka meets him.
Advantage Ibaka, one would think, but it was Duncan who finished with authority. I love how Duncan’s face barely moved as he jogged back up the court. Sometimes, no reaction is much better than an overreaction.
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