The Dunk-tionary: The official guide to ranking dunks

This article was originallypublished on Jan. 16, 2021.

We’ve all been herebefore.

It’s a random Wednesday. Fullslate of games, hard to keep track of everything. Maybe you’repeeping an ESPN matchup. Perhaps you’re watching your favorite teamon the local channel if you’re in the market, or you’re streamingit LEGALLY ON NBA LEAGUE PASS BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY WAY YOU AREALLOWED TO DO IT. WINK.

But anyway, you’re watching agame. You’re roaming Twitter. And then a tweet catches your eye:PLAYER X HAS DUNKED ON LEBRON JAMES.

Your brow raises. You see a fewtweets from your online pals big-upping the play. You’re reallyinterested now. You click on the video from a Big Social MediaAccount. And this is the dunk:

The excitement drops a littlebit. That’s a nice dunk from Wendell Carter Jr. LeBron James isunderneath the basket, and there’s a challenge. But somethingdoesn’t feelright about it.

Then you see a different angleof the Dunk Heard ‘Round The World.

You feel betrayed. LeBron didn’tget dunked on; LeBron’s arm got dunked on as he jumps out of the darn play!This isn’t ScottiePippen on Patrick Ewing or Vince Carter on AlonzoMourning! I can yell atthese clouds if I want to!

If you’re anything like me,you’re tired of being misled. If I hear or read that a player gotbaptized, I want to see some Holy Water coming out of the rim afterthe aerial duel. And if you are like me, this is the piece for you.This is the guide of all guides, breaking down the different typesof dunks. A universal standard of slams, if you will, so we canfinally get on the same page about poster dunks.

A brief note before digging in.I am using a tier system so it’s easier to separate the types ofdunks. Like many things in life, the scale can slide on acase-by-case basis. For example, breakaway dunks are generallyuncontested, which makes them the lowest tier of dunk for me.However, a breakaway dunk from 360-enthusiast Zach LaVine isdifferent -- and much cooler -- than the two-handed flushes we seefrom Jimmy Butler. Each dunk is still its ownthing.

Disclaimer: Alley-oops canfall under virtually all of these categories, with the obviousexception of put-backs.

TIER 10: BREAKAWAYS

Break-away dunks are prettyself-explanatory. There’s a long rebound after a miss. A playerleaks out early, and gets a dunk with no resistance. They’re prettybasic with a few exceptions. LaVine, Paul George or Glenn RobinsonIII may bust out a 360 or windmill on occasion. LeBron has made theone-handed tomahawk a staple of his repertoire.

It’s basic, but it’s so darncool. Power, a little bit of flair, the hang time. All that goodstuff.

TIER 9: TIP SLAMS

I like the timing, positioning and coordination it takesto pull off a putback slam. The lower-level ones are uncontested,but can be rated higher depending on the work a player puts inbefore the ball comes off the rim. Take this multiple-effortpossession from Larry Nance Jr. as an example:

TIER 8: BUSINESS DECISIONS

The OG: Shaquille O’Neal

Also popularized by: LeBron James, Blake Griffin, ZionWilliamson

This is for the power dunkers.Whether it’s in transition, flowing off of a broken play orrumbling down the lane after a high-ball screen, it’s hilarious towatch players actively decide, “Nope, I don’t get paid enough forthis.” Take this play from the 2016-17 season, featuring BlakeGriffin:

The key actor here is WillyHernangomez (No. 14). He is watching this snug pick-and-roll allthe way through. His man, noted three-point marksman DeAndreJordan, is chilling above the break. Not only can Hernangomez makethe rotation to cut off Griffin at the rim, heshould make that rotation because Jordan is not athreat at all. Instead, he begins to load up, quickly realizes thatGriffin will put him in the gulag, and decides against challengingthe shot.

Hilarious sequence.

TIER 7: FLY-BYS

This is where having adiscerning eye is important. When you think about it, this kind ofdunk -- and the praise that these types of dunk typically generate-- is about deception.

A defender jumps across a playerto make it look like he’s legitimately challenging the dunk.There’s no real threat of a block or swipe. The dunk happensbecause, again, there’s no real threat to it otherwise. Andsomehow bothplayers end up looking good. Thedunker gets “poster” equity they don’t deserve; the defender gets aslight pat on the back for giving effort instead of making abusiness decision.

It’s all a darn farce. Acool-looking farce at times, but a farcenonetheless.

TIER 6: SELF-LOBS

We’ve reached the coolest of thenon-contact dunks. It doesn’t get much better than throwing theball to yourself for a slam, man. Look at Jamal Murray gettinghimself out of trouble.

TIER 5: “IN THE VICINITY” SLAMS (Also known asITVs)

Folks, the rubber is starting toreach the road. The ITVs involve actual attempts at a contestand/or a little contact, a step up from the Fly-bys. This is whereI’d say the Wendell-on-LeBron dunk falls, though I wouldn’t be madat anyone that would classify it as a Fly-by. A better examplewould be this slam from Matisse Thybulle last season.

There’s an attempt at achallenge, but Thybulle still gets the better of Mason Plumlee. ButPlumlee doesn’t get dunked on. There isn’t enough contact to call it a posterof the highest order.

This is also where failedchasedown blocks come in. With guys flying in from behind, thedunk-on element just isn’t there most of the time. Take the famousKobe-on-LeBron dunk from the 2011 All-Star game.

TIER 4: PUTBACK POSTERS

I’ve always gone back and forthwith myself about where to place these types of dunks. On one hand,the blindsided nature of it makes it a bit unfair to defenders. Youcan’t defend against what you can’t see. However, there’s enoughcontact at play, and a player Mossin’ a dude and flushing it downis generally some high level stuff.

Yes, that is the #BASED and#RARE Gerald Green in a Celtics uni. And yeah that’s Mason Plumleeagain. Sorry, man.

TIER 3: DUNK-ONS/CHARGE CRUSHERS

We’ve reached the portion of theprogram where dudes are getting legitimately yammed on, but thereare a couple of factors that keep it from rankinghigher.

First, the level of conteststill matters. A lot of these dunks feature dudes sliding over inan attempt to take a charge (hence the alternative name). Thehigher level posters feature someone trying to actually block thedunk. Sure, a charge and blocked dunk are functionally the same interms of the result the defense wants -- taking away two points --but we’re talking about highlights here.

Secondly, and I admit we’resplitting hairs a bit, size also matters. The first dunk I thoughtof was Nuggets-era J.R Smith yamming it over Gary Neal:

Objectively a good dunk, butGary Neal is ground bound and short. You have to dock some pointsthere. I’m sorry. The famous DeAndre Jordan-on-Brandon Knightflush, while iconic, also falls in this category.

The higher end of this would beanother classic involving the Spurs: LeBron dunking on TimDuncan.

That’s more like it.

TIER 2: THE THROW-IN

THE OG: Blake Griffin

ALSO POPULARIZED BY: Derrick Jones Jr.

DUNK TRUTHERS DON’T READTHIS!

***

***

***

***

***

***

***

Dunk Truthers are stupidpoopyheads.

Yes, we’re well aware that dunksthat involve the rim being grabbed -- or at least touched -- aremore pure, whatever the heck that means. But you look at BlakeGriffin embarrassing the life out of Timofey Mozgov and tell me itisn’t one of greatest athletic feats you’ve ever seen.

Derrick Jones Jr. has somegnarly ones in his bag as well, highlighted by this lob heconverted against the Raptors that still doesn’t make much sense tome.

TIER 1: THE PURE POSTER

Pippen on Ewing. Carter on‘Zo. Baron Davis onAndrei Kirilenko.Michael Jordan on, well, name almost any big man you can think ofthat played in the '90s.

We can go more modern, likeLarry Nance Jr. doing this to pre-DPOY-candidate BrookLopez:

Another hidden gem: young DeMarDeRozan throwing the hammer down over Rudy Gobert:

The constant for these dunks:full-on, body-to-body contact with a legitimate attempt for acontest. You’ll know it when you see it.

BONUS TIER: THE VINCE CARTER

Yeah, this is still the bestdunk I’ve ever seen.

You clear a seven footer, youget your own dunk tier. Those are the rules.