This dunk is awesome, no doubt about that. But amazingly, it might not even be the best part of this clip.
No, that honor either goes to the segment from 14 seconds to 18 seconds where we see a bunch of kids reacting like they just found a Playboy and then a quick cut to a bunch of grownups acting the exact same way, or to this face:
Pretty much the right reaction and maybe the best dunk reaction face since Stephon Marbury. Sorry for your entire body and soul, Brandon Knight.
OK yeah, the dunk is pretty cool, since it’s fun to watch somebody nearly hit their head on the rim when jumping from the free throw circle. But the best part, easily, is the noise LeBron makes after the dunk.
I might be a bit off on my translation, but I’m fairly certain that was a “DEAH!,” which I really haven’t heard before. Innovative.
Oh by the way, maybe stop the ball when LeBron is just cruising down the court on a fast break. I don’t know. Just a suggestion.
I’m not sure if I’m ready to live in a world where the Indiana Pacers are the best dunking team in the league, but we may have reached that point. But if you remain unconvinced, just watch the practice session where Gerald Green’s infamous picture was taken.
This may very well be happening. The Indiana Pacers might be the best dunking team in the league. I guess Fred Jones had more of an effect than any of us will ever know.
(via SLAM)
I heard something recently that I couldn’t believe was true — Vinny Del Negro taught Kenny Smith his famous between-the-legs, off-the-backboard dunk from the 1990 dunk contest. Sure, the particulars work out, like the fact that Vinny and Kenny were teammates from 1988 to 1990 and that Vinny could certainly throw down at that time. But VDN teaching something basketball-related so well did not compute with a Bulls fan who lived through him botching every timeout situation imaginable.
So I did what any 21st century human who is confronted with contradictory information would do: I Googled it. And lo and behold, the internet holds reference to such a legend. From the OUHoops.com forums from around the time Blake Griffin was in the dunk contest, with a little emphasis added to the pertinent portion of the passage:
I’m willing to wager that Blake will throw some variation of the “backwards between the legs foul line bounce pass off the glass” (hereafter abbreviated BBTLFLBPOTG) that he used to win the McD’s contest.
Blake threw the BBTLFLBPOTG down in 2007 as a tribute to Kenny Smith’s in the 1990 NBA Dunk Contest. Kenny being Blake’s ‘dunk coach’ for the competition, it seems a given that the BBTLFLBPOTG will make another appearance, hopefully in an absolutely bone smashing manner (360 tomahawk? Is it even possible to break an NBA backboard anymore?)
Further, take a guess at who taught Kenny Smith the BBTLFLBPOTG? If you guessed Vinny del Negro, you need a new hobby, but you’re right.
If it’s on the internet, it must be true. From here on out, never let it be said that Vinny Del Negro is a bad basketball coach. If he came up with this, he’s basically a combination of Phil Jackson, Vince Lombardi and Sidney Deane with a little Patti LaBelle mixed in for good measure. Maybe all these years of having to coach every part of the game has been holding VDN back and he just needs to focus on his true legacy, which is teaching fancy dunks for the dunk contest. I’m not sure what the market is like for full-time dunk coaches, but I’d think it’s something worth exploring.
This is literally the best tip dunk Nick Collison will ever have in his life, guaranteed. It’s in a big playoff game, it came out of nowhere, it looked awesome and — maybe the best part — such a dunk is almost impossible to replicate. Maybe I’m crazy, but I can’t imagine there are going to be lots of plays where the ball bounces three feet above the rim and Nick Collison catches it at its peak and just crushes the finish, kind of on Tim Duncan.
If this is Nick Collison’s all-time best highlight, at least it was a good one. Glad we could all be here to see it.
Ever since JaVale McGee was traded to the Nuggets, less and less JaVale McGee stuff has been happening to the NBA player who single-handedly brought back the term “knucklehead.” It was still a hilarious season for the blog ages, but things certainly slowed down after the trade deadline.
That’s why it’s good to know JaVale still has what it takes to end up on the wrong side of a highlight. (And to be fair, the right side of one too.) Getting dunked on isn’t a big deal, but it’ll be nice to add something from his Denver days to the lowlight reel. Even if nothing crazy happens tonight against the Timberwolves, this is a fitting end to the funniest season in NBA history.
Three cheers for JaVale McGee. Hip hip … hooray!
Oh man, did you guys see Blake Griffin’s dunks last night? Both of them? So great. So powerful. So Blake Griffin and kind of a little Shawn Kemp. Awesome dunks, obviously. Everyone saw them and everyone loved them.
Except one person, who neither saw nor loved Blake Griffin’s monumental throwdowns. That person is Pau Gasol and he doesn’t even care if he ever sees those stupid plays again. From the AP:
“I really didn’t see the ball when it went in. I was on my (rear),” Gasol said. “It happened too quick. I don’t have a great desire to watch it (again).”
Nothing will turn an otherwise normal dude in to an old curmudgeon faster than getting dunked on while catching a forearm to the face. That sort of thing makes a 31-year-old in to a 74-year-old who doesn’t watch TV and hates the kids these days in the blink of an eye.
Let’s just hope Mike Brown has the good sense to edit out Blake’s dunks during the team’s film session, lest Pau rebuke the entire team for sagging their shorts and not knowing who Dizzy Gillespie is.
