NBA Slam Dunk Contest - Best Dunks Ever

The Slam Dunk Contest is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The contest was inaugurated by the American Basketball Association (ABA) at its All-Star Game in 1976 in Denver, just as the slam dunk was legalized in the NCAA. It enabled players to showcase their dunking skills and try to "out-dunk" each other. However, this contest would be short-lived as the ABA merged the following year with the NBA. Realizing the popularity of slam dunks, the NBA soon created a contest of its own, which made its first appearance in 1984. The contest currently uses fan voting, via text-messaging, to determine the winner.

The very first slam dunk contest was won by Julius Erving at the 1976 ABA All-Star Game. The current champion of the NBA Dunk Contest is Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

Past NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions
Over the history of the event, there have been 18 players who have been crowned the best dunkers in the NBA. Of those 18, four are two-time winners including: Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, Harold Miner and Jason Richardson.




2008 (New Orleans) - Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
2007 (Las Vegas) - Gerald Green, Boston Celtics
2006 (Houston) - Nate Robinson, New York Knicks
2005 (Denver) - Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks
2004 (Los Angeles) - Fred Jones, Indiana Pacers
2003 (Atlanta) - Jason Richardson, Golden State Warriors
2002 (Philadelphia) - Jason Richardson, Golden State Warriors
2001 (Washington, D.C.) - Desmond Mason, Seattle SuperSonics
2000 (Oakland) - Vince Carter, Toronto Raptors
1999 - Lockout - Shortened Season, No NBA All Star Game
1998 - No Slam Dunk Competition
1997 (Cleveland) - Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
1996 (San Antonio) - Brent Barry, Los Angeles Clippers
1995 (Phoenix) - Harold Miner, Miami Heat
1994 (Minneapolis) - Isaiah Rider, Minnesota Timberwolves
1993 (Salt Lake City) - Harold Miner, Miami Heat
1992 (Orlando) - Cedric Ceballos, Phoenix Suns
1991 (Charlotte) - Dee Brown, Boston Celtics
1990 (Miami) - Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks
1989 (Houston) - Kenny Walker, New York Knicks
1988 (Chicago) - Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
1987 (Seattle) - Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
1986 (Dallas) - Spud Webb, Atlanta Hawks
1985 (Indianapolis) - Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks
1984 (Denver) - Larry Nance, Phoenix Suns

All-time participants
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf: 1993
Ray Allen: 1997
Chris Andersen: 2004, 2005
Greg Anderson: 1988
Nick Anderson: 1992
Darrell Armstrong: 1996
Stacey Augmon: 1992
Brent Barry: 1996
Kenny Battle: 1990
Jonathan Bender: 2001
David Benoit: 1993
Dee Brown: 1991
Kobe Bryant: 1997
Chris Carr: 1997
Vince Carter: 2000
Cedric Ceballos: 1992, 1993
Tom Chambers: 1987
Rex Chapman: 1990, 1991
Doug Christie: 1996
Michael Cooper: 1984
Antonio Davis: 1994
Baron Davis: 2001
Ricky Davis: 2000, 2004
Johnny Dawkins: 1987
Clyde Drexler: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
Tony Dumas: 1995
Blue Edwards: 1991
Julius Erving: 1984, 1985
Michael Finley: 1996, 1997
Steve Francis: 2000, 2002
Rudy Gay: 2008
Kendall Gill: 1991
Gerald Green: 2007, 2008
Darrell Griffith: 1984, 1985
Darvin Ham: 1997
Ron Harper: 1987, 1989
Antonio Harvey: 1995
Roy Hinson: 1986
Allan Houston: 1994
Dwight Howard: 2007, 2008
Larry Hughes: 2000
Andre Iguodala: 2006
Richard Jefferson: 2003
Larry Johnson: 1992
Edgar Jones: 1984
Fred Jones: 2004
Shelton Jones: 1989
Michael Jordan: 1985, 1987, 1988
Shawn Kemp: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994
Jerome Kersey: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
Corey Maggette: 2001
Desmond Mason: 2001, 2002, 2003
Tracy McGrady: 2000
Harold Miner: 1993, 1995
Greg Minor: 1996
Jamario Moon: 2008
Chris Morris: 1989
Larry Nance: 1984, 1985
Robert Pack: 1994
Tim Perry: 1989, 1993
Scottie Pippen: 1990
Paul Pressey: 1986
Jason Richardson: 2002, 2003, 2004
Isaiah Rider: 1994, 1995
James Robinson: 1994
Nate Robinson: 2006, 2007
Ralph Sampson: 1984
J.R. Smith: 2005
Josh Smith: 2005, 2006
Kenny Smith: 1990, 1991, 1993
Otis Smith: 1988, 1991
Jerry Stackhouse: 1996, 2000
Terence Stansbury: 1985, 1986, 1987
John Starks: 1992
DeShawn Stevenson: 2001
Amare Stoudemire: 2003, 2005
Stromile Swift: 2001
Tyrus Thomas: 2007
Billy Thompson: 1990
Terry Tyler: 1986
Kenny Walker: 1989, 1990
Gerald Wallace: 2002
Hakim Warrick: 2006
Jamie Watson: 1995
Clarence Weatherspoon: 1993
Spud Webb: 1986, 1988, 1989
Doug West: 1992
Dominique Wilkins: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990
Gerald Wilkins: 1986, 1987
Kenny Williams: 1991
Orlando Woolridge: 1984, 1985

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• slam
• dunk
• contest
• michael
• jordan

[jackylin87]

kobe should not be on this.

[HmongSteven]

haha poor kobe he got hit at 1:25 but starting to go when he hits the rim

[MidWestBalla218]

@ironbull2003 haha true. these were some bullshit regular dunks i do myself

[csbeacher]

dude jordans 1 handers were sick

[rhanwhang]

A lot of guys can dunk from the free throw line but Jordan has that hangtime, flying, Kodak moment motion which no one else can do.. can't touch air Jordan.

[FuriousStyl3s]

its easy to put jordan number one... but vinces dunk was better. straight up.

[kconnection79]

These guys got it wrong. Vince Carter should be number one.

[ragelo12]

can't believe spud webb can jump that high.

[ironbull2003]

Best dunks of all time??? almost all of these dunks were whack as fuck, especially Kobe's...

[32cmp]

umm jordan jumped from the free throw line.... of course he got number one.