Styles of Dunks

Kobe's Top 10 Dunks

2007-01-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

Kobe Bryant

2007-01-13T05:50:00.000-08:00

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and current Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. He rose to national prominence as he became the first guard in league history to be drafted out of high school. Bryant was ranked #59 on SLAM magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of All Time in 2003.

Kobe Bryant is the youngest child and only son of Joe and Pam Bryant (they also have two daughters, Shaya and Sharia). His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.[1]

When Bryant was six his father left the NBA and started playing professional basketball in Italy, where the whole family moved. Bryant acclimated to the lifestyle there and became fluent in Italian. At an early age, he learned to play soccer. He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would have tried to become a professional soccer player, and that his favorite team was AC Milan. At the age of 7, Bryant got his first leather basketball and it became his constant companion. He even slept with it.

In 1991, the Bryants moved back to the United States. A spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion brought Bryant national recognition. While his SAT score of 1080[2] would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various top-tier colleges, the 17-year-old Bryant made the controversial decision to go directly to the NBA.

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Brent Barry Best Dunks and Plays

2007-01-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

Brent Barry

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Brent Robert Barry (born December 31, 1971 in Hempstead, New York) is an American professional basketball player (6 ft 6 in - 1.98 m), currently with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. He is known by his nickname, "Bones".

Barry is the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry, and is arguably the best player of the four basketball-playing Barry sons, the others being (from oldest) Scooter, Jon, and Drew. Brent, the second youngest, has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and Seattle SuperSonics.

Brent Barry played his high school basketball at athletic powerhouse, De La Salle High School in Concord, California before receiving a basketball scholarship to play at Oregon State University. Barry earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology while in college.

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Isaiah "J.R." Rider Between the Legs dunk

2007-01-13T05:35:00.001-08:00

Isaiah "J.R." Rider

2007-01-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

Isaiah "J.R." Rider (born March 12, 1971 in Oakland, California) is a former NBA basketball player, who played from 1993–2001.

The 6'5" (1.96 m) Rider attended two junior colleges before finding a home at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he garnered 2nd-Team All-American honors as a senior. He was also arrested once during his stay ay UNLV, spending a night in jail after an incident in which he abused a worker at a campus Jack in the Box and threw a milkshake into the restaurant's drive-through window. [1] UNLV's basketball team under coach Jerry Tarkanian had already acquired a reputation as a program with disciplinary issues well before Rider's run-in with the law, and after his arrest Rider was often held up as the poster child for the character issues that many felt were running rampant in Tarkanian's program. [2]

Despite the questions surrounding his character, Rider was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 5th pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. As a rookie, Rider took the league by storm, tallying three 30-point games in December 1993, winning the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in February 1994 with a spectacular between-the-legs jam, which he titled the "East Bay Funk Dunk" (veteran All-Star Charles Barkley called it the best dunk he had ever seen), and finishing the 1993-94 season as a member of the NBA's All-Rookie First Team.

In his second season, Rider continued to display the scoring flair that earned him praise the year prior, but also resumed the type of troubling off-court behavior that would ultimately de-rail his entire career. Though he was among the NBA's leaders in scoring at 20.4 ppg in 94-95, Rider feuded with Minnesota coach Bill Blair throughout the year, leading to a December suspension. Rider did win the 1995 ESPN ESPY Award for best NBA play, however: during a December game against the Kings, Rider jumped to save a ball from going out of bounds, flinging it blindly towards the general vicinity of the basket... and it somehow went in, completing what T-Wolves announcer Tom Hanneman would term the "Play of the Decade". In 1995-96, Rider's play slipped slightly, but he regardless continued his insubordination toward Timberwolves management, prompting Minnesota to deal him to Portland after the season in exchange for practically nothing (they received Bill Curley, James Robinson and a conditional first round draft pick in 1997 or 1998, which apparently wasn't used, as the Timberwolves picked Paul Grant in 1997 and Radoslav Nesterovic in 1998, without getting a pick from Portland, who didn't have any).

On a deep Portland Trail Blazers team, Rider's scoring dipped to new lows, but the team enjoyed a modicum of success. Rider (who inexplicably took to calling himself "Isaiah" again upon his arrival in Portland) also toned down his off-court act slightly in his three seasons in the Rose City, though he was not a model citizen, either. Still, the Atlanta Hawks felt Rider was the missing piece in their puzzle after the 1998-99 season, and so they sent Steve Smith to the Blazers for Rider and Jim Jackson, another talent who had not quite reached his potential. The trade would quickly prove to be possibly the worst in Hawks history, though, and it ultimately contributed to the firings of then-coach Lenny Wilkens and General Manager Pete Babcock. While Rider was passable on the floor, pacing the Hawks in scoring, his off-court incidents exploded: arrests, quarrels with management, parking in the reserved space at Philips Arena belonging to the Atlanta Thrashers' Head Coach, missing practices, etc. By March 2000, the Hawks had had enough; they waived Rider, and he spent the rest of the year waiting for another team to sign him.

The next stop on the Isaiah Rider tour was the home of the defending champions, Los Angeles. Phil Jackson inked Rider as an experiment, as much in his own ability to keep questionable characters (such as, previously, Dennis Rodman) in line as in Rider's ability to contribute points. In the end, Rider behaved relatively well, and played in 67 of the Lakers' 82 games that year, leading their bench in scoring with a 7.6 average. However, they did not reward him with his first championship ring, and left him off the playoff roster, but let two rarely playing reserves (Greg Foster and Devean George)stay on the roster instead. His play had deteriorated quite a bit in a short period of time, and it looked like Rider's career was finally over.

Prior to the 2001-02 season, the Denver Nuggets decided that Rider might be worth the trouble if he could resuscitate their moribund offense, but Rider's stay in the Mile High City was limited to just 10 games, as it became painfully obvious that Rider no longer could play at an NBA level. Rider refused to term it "retirement" at the time, however, insisting that he could still play if given the chance. More than four years later, though, Rider's number has yet to be called by an NBA GM, and it seems as though his checkered career is finally over.

As if to cement this fact, on January 26, 2006, Rider was arrested by Marin County (California) sheriff's deputies on charges of kidnapping a female acquaintance. Rider was being held on $2 million bail at Marin County Jail on charges of kidnapping and battery. On August 18, 2006, two arrest warrants were issued for Rider after he failed to show up at his sentencing. Isaiah was arrested for these warrants less than two weeks later, and has been arrested numerous times since.

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Harold Miner Dunks and Plays

2007-01-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

Harold Miner

2007-01-13T05:19:00.000-08:00

Harold Miner (born May 5, 1971 in Inglewood, California) is a former USC Trojan basketball player who played for the Miami Heat from 1992 until 1995 and for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 1996 season. During his college career, he earned All-American Honors, and led the Trojans to a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament his last year. However, Miner's Trojans were on the losing end of the famous James Forrest 3 pt buzzer beater to knock USC out, ending Miner's college career. Miner then went on to be the 12th pick of the 1992 NBA Draft.

Miner won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest twice, in 1993 and 1995. In the 1995 Contest, Miner defeated Isaiah Rider, who won the previous year, solidifying Miner as one of the best dunkers in NBA history. He earned the nickname "Baby Jordan" in college because his dunking ability was said to rival Michael Jordan's. Because of this, the Heat's popularity increased for a time. Miner did not get much playing time from Heat coaches, Kevin Loughery and Alvin Gentry and was criticized for his defense and basketball IQ, despite his scoring prowess in limited time. Despite his popularity and help for the Heat, after the 1995 season Miner was traded to Cleveland Cavaliers who waived him after only 19 games. He tried out for the Toronto Raptors the following year but was cut during the pre-season.

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Cedric Ceballos Blind Folded Dunk

2007-01-13T05:17:00.000-08:00

Cedric Ceballos

2007-01-13T05:08:00.000-08:00

Cedric Z. "Ice" Ceballos (born August 2, 1969 in Maui, Hawaii) is a former professional basketball player in the NBA. As a small forward, he played most notably for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns, later finishing his career with the Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, and Miami Heat. Ceballos attended college at Ventura College and later Cal State Fullerton.

His career highlights include leading the NBA in field goal percentage (57.6) in 1992-93, leading the Lakers in scoring in 1994-95 with a 21.7 average and in 1995-96 with a 21.2 average, notching the Lakers' first 50-point game in over 20 years in 1995, and winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest with a blindfolded dunk in 1992.

Ceballos is currently employed by the Phoenix Suns as their in-arena emcee and host of a weekly webcast, "Nothin' but Net." He also hosts a morning music program for Phoenix, Arizona rhythm & blues radio station FM.

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Dee Brown Dunk Champion

2007-01-13T05:06:00.000-08:00

Dee Brown

2007-01-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

Born Aug. 17, 1984, in Jackson, Miss. ... Given name is Daniel ... Mother is Cathy Brown-Blocker ... Father is Fred Brown ... Graduated in December with a bachelor's degree in sport management ... Reputation as one of the quickest guards in America has earned him the nickname "The One-Man Fast Break" ... Ranked 16th out of 382 in his high school senior class ... Attended the same high school as former NBA player and current NBA coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers and current NBA player Michael Finley ... Favorite athlete is Allen Iverson.

http://fightingillini.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/brown_dee00.html

Michael Jordan Top 10 Dunks

2007-01-13T04:46:00.000-08:00

Michael Jordan

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Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. Considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time, he became the most effectively marketed athlete of his generation and was instrumental in spreading the appeal of the NBA (National Basketball Association) around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. He is currently a part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.

A remarkable force at both ends of the floor, "M.J." ended his 15 NBA seasons with a regular-season scoring average of 30.12 points per game, the highest in NBA history. He won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls (during which he won all six NBA Finals MVP awards), won 10 scoring titles, and was league MVP five times. He was named to the All-NBA First Team 10 times, All-Defensive First Team nine times, and led the league in steals three times.

Since 1983, he has appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated a record 49 times, and was named the magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" in 1991. He has appeared on the cover of SLAM Magazine a record nine times, including the magazine's 50th and 100th issues. In 1999, he was named "the greatest athlete of the 20th century" by ESPN, and was second only to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press list of top athletes of the century. His leaping ability, vividly illustrated by dunking from the foul line and other feats, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness."

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Spud Webb slam dunk

2007-01-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

Spud Webb

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Anthony Jerome "Spud" Webb (born July 13, 1963 in Dallas, Texas) is an American former NBA basketball player. Officially listed at 5'7" (170 cm), he is the shortest player in NBA history to have won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest (1986).
Webb, the shortest person to compete in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, won the event in 1986. His participation surprised teammate and defending dunk champion Dominique Wilkins, who had "never seen me dunk before," Webb said. [1] His dunks included the elevator two-handed double pump dunk, the one-handed off the backboard one-handed jam, a 360-degree helicopter one-handed dunk, a 180-degree reverse double-pump slam, and finally, the 180-degree reverse two-handed jam from a lob bounce off the floor. He beat Wilkins with two perfect 50-point scores in the final round. Atlanta coach Mike Fratello said, "Spud kind of duped him. He told Nique he never had anything prepared, didn't practice for it. So, Nique maybe thought his normal assortment would be good enough to get through."

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Dominique Wilkins vs. Michael Jordan

2007-01-13T04:08:00.000-08:00

Dominique Wilkins

2007-01-13T04:02:00.000-08:00

Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960, in Paris, France) is an American former professional basketball player in the NBA and Basketball Hall of Famer. "'Nique" (also nicknamed The Human Highlight Film[1]) is one of the most prolific scorers and best dunkers in NBA history.
Wilkins participated in four slam dunk contests winning two. The first one was in 1984, in Denver. Dominique finished third behind Larry Nance and Julius Erving. In 1985, in Indianapolis, he beat Michael Jordan in the finals. In Dallas in 1986, a Jordan-Wilkins rematch was put on hold, since Michael Jordan was injured. Dominique reached the finals where he was upset by his 5' 7" teammate, Anthony "Spud" Webb.

The finally awaited rematch of Wilkins vs Jordan was in the 1988 Chicago All-Star Weekend. The duo put a show for the ages. At the end Michael Jordan prevailed winning 147 to 145. Many thought that if the contest was held in another arena, it would have gone the Nique's way.

In 1990 Dominique decided to make a final appearance in the Slam Dunk contest. He went up against all the new promising stars, like Shawn Kemp, Scottie Pippen and Kenny Walker (the 1989 champion). In the finals he defeated Kenny Smith from the Sacramento Kings. That was Nique's second and final victory in a Slam Dunk contest.

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Larry Nance Slam Dunk

2007-01-13T03:54:00.000-08:00

Larry Nance

2007-01-13T03:45:00.000-08:00

Larry Donnell Nance (born February 12, 1959 in Anderson, South Carolina) is a former American professional basketball player. A 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) power forward/center from Clemson University, Nance played thirteen seasons (1981–1994) in the NBA as a member of the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nance scored 15,687 career points and grabbed 7,352 career rebounds, but he is perhaps best known as the first winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1984. His best scoring average year was in the 1986–1987 NBA season, where he averaged 22.5 points per game. Nance was involved in a trade between the Suns and the Cavaliers in 1988. It was this trade that brought Kevin Johnson to the Suns along with a first-round draft choice that Phoenix would eventually use to pick Dan Majerle. The trade worked out for both teams, as Nance proved to be the missing piece the Cavs needed to contend for a title in the East, while at the same time playing the role of frontcourt post partner to Cav center Brad Daugherty. For the Suns, Johnson and Majerle became key players in the team's late 1980s and early 1990s success.

Larry Nance was a 3-time NBA All-Star 1985, 1989, and 1993, and the NBA All-Defensive Team First Team member in 1989, and the Second Team Member in 1992 and 1993.

Nance is currently a drag racer in the International Hot Rod Association, mainly in the Pro Stock series.

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Michael Jordan free throw line dunk

2007-01-13T03:35:00.001-08:00

Slam dunk

2007-01-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

A slam dunk (or simply a dunk) is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air and manually powers the ball through the basket with one or both of his hands, then grabs the rim shortly after the ball passes through the hoop. This is a standard field goal worth two points. The term "slam dunk" was first coined by former L.A. Lakers announcer Chick Hearn [citation needed].

The slam dunk is one of the highest percentage field goals one can attempt in basketball as well as one of the most crowd-pleasing plays. Other terms for slam dunk include "jam", "stuff", "bang", "cram" or "throw down". Slam dunk contests are quite popular, and perhaps the most popular contest is the NBA Slam Dunk Contest held during the annual NBA All-Star Weekend.

Dunking was banned in the NCAA from 1967 to 1976. Many have attributed this to the dominance of the then-college phenom Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then called Lew Alcindor) upon his entry into the NCAA. Subsequently, the no-dunking rule is sometimes referred to as the "Lew Alcindor Rule".

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