Who Dunked It Better? Steve Francis vs Jahii Carson

Steve Francis 

(2000

 vs

Jahii Carson 

(2014)

While the commentators were likening him to former NBL import Calvin Talford, Jahii Carson's winning dunk at the NBL Blitz Slam Dunk Contest took us back to Stevie's "any other night" tomahawk in 2000.

If you haven't Youtube'd Talford, we highly recommend it.

UPDATE: Full contest footage here. The comparison here.

Who Dunked It Better? James White vs Zach LaVine

This was eight years in the making.

Flight White at the '06 NCAA Slam Dunk Contest or LaVine at the Jamal Crawford hosted Seattle Pro-Am.

James White

(March 30, 2006)

Zach LaVine

(July 27, 2014)

Who Dunked It Better? Ricky Davis vs Alonzo Gee

Cleveland edition of Who Dunked It Better? featuring the genius Ricky Davis and current Cavs swingman Alonzo Gee.

Ricky Davis on Zeljko Rebraca
(December 20, 2002)

Alonzo Gee on Kevin Love

(December 7, 2012)

Ricky had another worthy example in the same season against Vincent Yarbrough's Nuggets.

Who Dunked It Better? Michael Jordan vs Dwyane Wade

Mike's putback during the Shrug Game gets the nod, but the similarities are worth noting if nothing else.

Michael Jordan putback vs Portland Trailblazers

(June 3, 1992)

Dwyane Wade putback vs Indiana Pacers

(May 19, 2014)

Paul George doin' his best Clyde Drexler.

Who Dunked It Better? Kawhi Leonard vs Michael Jordan

We enjoyed Kawhi's dunk from the other night a great deal and we are going to suggest it had a little bit of Scottie Pippen about it. Even Kemp used to break out a similar dunk once in a while too.

Kawhi Leonard vs Portland Trailblazers

(May 14, 2014)

We couldn't find any examples from either player, so here's Mike doing it in his rookie year. Very well may we add.

Michael Jordan vs Detroit Pistons

(February 12, 1985)

Who Dunked It Better? Butler vs Horry

Things that we like: Old dudes in the Playoffs, dunking.

At age 34, Caron Butler had an impressive throw down last night against the Griz.

Caron Butler vs Memphis Grizzlies

(April 19, 2014)

Though no where near as critical, it did remind us a little of Robert Horry's lefty dunk in the final minutes of  Game 5 of the 2005 Finals. For completeness, Horry was also 34 at the time. 

Robert Horry vs Detroit Pistons

(June 19, 2005)

Who Dunked It Better? Robert Horry vs Josh McRoberts

Bobby and McBobby go reverse in the half court against the Nets.

Robert Horry vs New Jersey Nets
(January 30, 1993)

Josh McRoberts vs Brooklyn Nets
(March 26, 2014)

Who Dunked It Better? REMATCH: Doug West vs Tim Hardaway Jr.

Well, well, well, we appear to have our first ever Who Dunked It Better? rematch.

See West vs Hardaway Jr. Pt.1 here and let us know who rocked it better in the comments section below.

Doug West vs Utah Jazz
(March 8, 1994)

Tim Hardaway Jr. vs Philadelphia 76ers
(March 21, 2014)

Who Dunked It Better? Pick Your Plumlee

The Hey Hermano Edition of Who Dunked It Better? featuring the high flying siblings of Brooklyn and Phoenix.

Mason Plumlee (March 19, 2014) vs Miles Plumlee (March 12, 2014

Who Dunked It Better? Taj Gibson vs Kenyon Martin

More putbacks, this time of the "one-hand gather, two-hand finish" variety.

Taj Gibson putback vs Sacramento Kings
(March 15, 2014)

Kenyon Martin putback vs Seattle Supersonics
(December 22, 2004)

While both are highly entertaining plays, we feel Martin's effort is superior based on elevation and ferocity.

Who Dunked It Better? Blake Griffin vs Desmond Mason

Blake Griffin's impressive season continued last night behind a 30/15 performance, leading the Clippers to their 9th straight W with a comfortable victory over their best mates, the Golden State Jermaine O'Neals.

The highlight of the night was Griffin's soaring putback in the 4th:

Blake Griffin putback vs Golden State Warriors

(March 12, 2014)

How does this finish stack up against great tip dunks of recent times? In our opinion, one of the most impressive putback artists of the past decade or so was Desmond Mason. Today's Who Dunked It Better? looks back at Mason's one-handed, head-at-rim finish over the GOAT Hedo and the Birthday Boy Bobby Jackson.

Desmond Mason putback vs Sacramento Kings

(November 15, 2002)

Who Dunked It Better? Shaquille O'Neal vs Robin Lopez

Who Dunked It Better? Lakers vs Blazers edition.

Shaquille O'Neal on Kelvin Cato

(Late 90's)

 Robin Lopez on Robert Sacre
(March 3, 2014)

Who Dunked It Better? James Ennis vs Nobody

James Ennis vs Sydney Kings

(March 2, 2014)

\

James Ennis added to his peerless highlight reel with an emphatic 360 against the Kings.

We couldn't track down an in-game NBL 360 for comparison (let us know if it exists), so here is Mortal Kombat's Scorpion completing his own 360 in NBA Jam TE:

Who Dunked It Better? Michael Jordan vs Andrew Gaze

MJ's iconic jumpman pose for the original Air Jordan I advertisement or the GOAT throwing down on the Rialto?

Let us know if you have the original Andrew Gaze image, as this is the best we could do.

Who Dunked It Better? LeBron "I'd Win" James vs Himself

        April 14, 2004    vs   February 11, 2014

Just enter.

Who Dunked It Better? Tom Hammonds vs JJ Hickson

The battle of the fly-kicking Nuggets - Tom Hammonds vs JJ Hickson.

Tom Hammonds vs Los Angeles Lakers

(April 9, 1996)

JJ Hickson vs Detroit Pistons

(February 8, 2014)

Hickson has had a number of impressive throw-downs this year, with Andre Drummond a feature in his latest effort. However, we've got Hammonds in this head-to-head, who gets the nod based on elevation alone.

Speaking of high flying Nuggets, Hammonds wasn't even the best dunker on that '96 Denver squad. A young man by the name of McDyess had that title covered.

Who Dunked It Better? Mike Scott vs Eddie Robinson

Make no mistake, this edition of Who Dunked It Better? is simply an opportunity to GIF E-Rob.

Last night Mike Scott showed a little creativity in the open floor, throwing down a half baked self-oop in the Hawks big win over the Sixers (@ 1:19).

Self-Oops (without using the glass) are somewhat of a rarity. Steve Francis was a big fan of them, both in Houston and in Orlando. Tony Allen had a massive one in his rookie year. Even Mark Jackson, the ultimate showman, took the opportunity to assist himself given time and space.

However, in our far from learned opinion, no one did it better than yesterday's hero Eddie Robinson.

 

And this wasn't the only time he broke out the party tricks either. Bless his soul.

Who Dunked It Better? Marcus Camby vs DeAndre Jordan

DeAndre Jordan dropped out of the attic last night during the Clippers dunk fest against Detroit, getting way above the rim (above the rim) on this lob from J.J. Redick.

We take you back four years, to when DeAndre was a rookie, and the starting center for the pre-Lob City Clippers was none other than Marcus Camby, aka DeAndre Jordan before DeAndre Jordan.
 

 

So maybe Camby never threw down 360 between the legs dunks in warm-ups, but he was an athletic, shot blocking five man who developed into an all around defensive menace with a nice outside touch.

Marcus Camby vs Milwaukee Bucks

(January 17, 2009)

DeAndre Jordan vs Detroit Pistons

(January 20, 2014)

By the way, the 2008-09 Clippers roster featured the layup line legend Mike Taylor. We will revisit his aerial antics at another time in the next post.

Who Dunked It Better? Stromile Swift vs Derrick Williams

With victory assured, Derrick Williams unleashed a mighty two hand windmill off a beautiful feed from DeMarcus Cousins in the Kings rout of the Magic over the weekend. Without taking away from the finish, dare we say that Cousins looked a little like a young Derrick Coleman on that play.

Whilst LeBron, JR Smith, James White and others have often blessed us with the one-footed variety, we aren't aware of too many other examples of an in-game windmill from a two-footed take-off.

Enter the Stro Show.

Stromile Swift is the sort of thing you first suggest to your wife when negotiating baby name's for your first born son. A bit like Tyrone Hill and nothing like Ira Newble. Most devastating off two feet,  Stro's array of dunks (and subsequent hand gestures) were highly entertaining. 

Here is a Swift semi two hand windmill to compare against that of Derrick Williams.

Stromile Swift vs Minnesota Timberwolves

(early 2000s)

 

Derrick Williams vs Orlando Magic

(January 11, 2014)

It's a no contest really, Williams crushed his with ease, but shame on us for not featuring Stro earlier.

Let us know if we have missed any other examples of this particular dunk.

Who Dunked It Better? Doug West vs Tim Hardaway Jr.

Mr West in his high-flying prime or Tim Hardaway Jr. from the other night?

Doug West 

(February 12, 1993)

Tim Hardaway Jr.

(January 10, 2014)

If you don't remember Doug West, he was sick.