Casual Conversation: All Star Weekend - The Dunks

Its All Star Weekend and thanks to Miss Pandemica, the best parts of All Star are now jammed into one night instead of the whole weekend. The changes got me to thinking about my favorite All Star moments

So why not start with everyone’s favorite – the dunk contest

You can pretty much guess my favorite dunk…so I needed another opinion. So I called @MrSplashGordon and asked him to rank his top 5 All Star dunks

The guidelines? We’re not into scores, we’re into moments. What made us go, “Oh shit!”

We both agree on number 5. 2008 Gerald Green catches the ball, makes a birthday wish on a cupcake behind the rim, and slams the ball in for no doubt one of the best All Star dunks. '

TheArtCasual: Boy blew the candle out before the ball went in!

MrSplashGordon: I couldn’t believe it. I’m like, “No way he had that much time to catch the ball, blow the candle out and THEN dunk it. No fuckin way..🙆🏾‍♂️”

We part ways on number 4 but only in ranking. Splash picked Jordan’s ‘87 side/flying/kiss the rim windmill. The air time is crazy as he literally floats to the basket.

Of course, any dunk of Jordan’s is a favorite, but I had to include some nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake and put Spud Webb at number 4. At 5’7, I’m going to say the entire performance deserves some shine.

You can catch him at this year’s contest as a judge…rightfully so.

Ok so we don’t agree on number 3 either. So i’m going to drop these two dunks in because well…its my blog and its a method to my madness. MrSplashGordon put Aaron Gordon jumping over the mascot and putting the ball UNDER his legs at #2 (fast forward to :36)… I put Hamidou Diallo’s Superman elbow dunk over SHAQ at #3 so in a compromise this is where they land.

MrSplashGordon: I first wanna start this off by SCREAMING, “AARON GORDON GOT ROBBED...TWICE!” Now that I got that out the way, lol. By 2016, we’d pretty much seen almost every dunk. I’d been following AG’s career since HS, I knew he had some different energy wit him. Him jumping over the mascot and then goin UNDER BOTH LEGS...one of the most original dunks in contest history. I remember just thinking he was gon go between the legs, but once he cleared him and BOTH legs went up? I thought, “Oh shit, oh shi...😳 OH SHIT!!!” I think this was the night I threw my phone on the floor and chipped my screen, lol.

It’s Over.

That’s it. That’s the caption.

Vince Carter put on a clinic at the 2000 dunk contest.

While the whole night clearly belonged to Vinsanity…We have to talk about the magic that is the Eastbay dunk.

TheArtCasual: The whole night was his. His whole demeanor that night from when he took the floor for his first dunk, you knew he had something up his sleeve. You called out the bounce Eastbay dunk as the one for you.

MrSplashGordon: At the time, we’d only seen the “Eastbay Dunk” done off one foot...we’d NEVER seen it done off the bounce. So to see Vince pull this dunk off, NO ONE had seen it. I can remember being so wow’d by his whole exhibition...so wow’d in fact that I lost my voice from yellin. That dunk, Kenny yellin out “IT’S OVAAAA!!! It’s over ladies and gentlemen!”, when you talk about moments..that was it. Everything around it. The dunk, Kenny Smith, the crowd reaction, Vince pointing towards the sky and then lookin in the camera and giving the “It’s over.” sign..this was it.

I’d honestly have two number 1s BUT because I have to choose, you can probably guess my number 1 All Star dunk. Its poetry in motion really, the perfect story with a photo finish. 1988, Jordan takes flight from the free throw line.

MrSplashGordon: When you think about free throw line dunks, Jordan’s 2nd one, in which it clinched the dunk title for him..that’s the one that stands out. Power, the flare, finesse..the still shots, even down to the emotion he expressed after completing the dunk..iconic.

TheArtCasual: For me it’s the build up…the story as much as the dunk itself. 85 Dominique Wilkins wins...87 Jordan wins…88 Chicago arena – the two are sure to meet in the finals of the contest. Wilkins was the Human Highlight Film, one of the greatest athletes of the time. But then there’s Jordan, the greatest player.

So boom…they both get 50s on their first dunks. We’re set up for them to duke it out… Round 2 Jordan gets a 47…Chicago Stadium is booing at this point. Wilkins scores a 45 on a two hand windmill off two feet, he brings it up from his knees. The chatter will be he got robbed. A 45? The dunk could have easily been a 47-48. But whatever…

Jordan’s up…he walks to the freethrow line looks and proceeds to walk back…walking backwards he’s clearing photographers. Every time I watch, I hear jet engines in my head. (I know I’m dramatic). He starts out…. hits a second gear about half court and takes off at the foul line. He’s in flight, photographer Walter Iooss catches him right under the scoreboard legs up in midair. Its gorgeous. The standard we hold all other dunks by.

There are some dunks that we just couldn’t leave out. So here’s our honorable mentions:

2002: Jason Richardson’s Backwards Eastbay. “I still get people coming up to me talking about that dunk,” Richardson said. “That was the best dunk contest I was in and it felt like it was going to go on forever because everyone was bringing their best. Having all the players rush the floor after the dunk added to the excitement.”