How much is a dunk worth in basketball

Is It Time To Make the Dunk Count for Four Points Instead of Two? | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Dwight Howard's "Superman Dunk" is the one of the all-time best.Jim Rogash/Getty Images

In basketball, the dunk has been around for a long time. It is a foregone conclusion that teams gain important momentum after the execution of a successful dunk shot. 

I am hoping that the rules committees in the NBA and NCAA will read this and consider tweaking the current scoring system just a little by making a dunk worth four points instead of two.  This would take basketball to another level. 

Please hear me out.  

I know that this might sound far-fetched at first, but allow yourself to fathom for one minute what this might do for the game of basketball.  I believe that this is exactly what the game of basketball needs for the proverbial shot-in-the-arm that would make it even more exciting than it already is.  

Currently, the successful execution of a dunk puts two points on the scoreboard, but these two points pale in comparison to the overall impact of what that dunk actually does to a team and a crowd during a game.

Basketball has long been called the ultimate spectator sport, and one of the biggest highlights of any game is witnessing an impromptu dunk by the home team player.  The intense, powerful impact of the dunk instantly hypes up any crowd. 

Darryl Dawkins became a household name in the '70s and '80s for tearing down backboards when the NBA did not have the collapsible rims like they have now.  The sheer force of a powerful dunk is never forgotten, and any player caught on a poster getting dunked on is always a topic of discussion.

The dunk's importance to the game of basketball is evidenced every year during the NBA All-Star Game.  This is when the league inevitably showcases its best dunkers on a stage for the entire world to see.  The dunking contest itself has started to lose a little luster because people are tired of seeing the same dunks over and over again.   

But I think the most obvious reason that dunking in a venue like the NBA Slam Dunk Contest doesn't create the vibe and impact that it once did is because those dunks are not being performed in a game-time situation. 

Any real fan of the dunk will tell you that dunking on or over someone during a game is a far greater achievement than dunking in a dunk contest.  Case in point: Click here to witness Vince Carter dunking over a seven-footer in the Olympics. 

But the NBA Slam Dunk Contest has also drawn criticism for what a lot people deem as "a lack of creativity" from a contest-planning perspective.  The fact of the matter is that most of the best dunks have already been done. It is extremely difficult for players to keep coming up with new dunks every year and for league organizers to create a contest format that is progressively better than the previous year. 

I was fortunate enough to witness in person the exploits of dunking sensation Vince Carter at the 2000 NBA All-Star Game's Slam Dunk Contest in Oakland, California.   This is when Carter performed the dunk where he ended with his arm in the net. 

At that time, nothing like that had been seen or attempted before, and it will go down as one of the most creative dunks of all time. Creativity is the key factor in a dunk contest, whereas momentum is the key factor during an actual basketball game.   

But the really great dunkers continue to come up with newer and more exciting ways to dunk, and when they dunk over somebody or dunk during a game, this keeps the dunk at the highest apex of fan appeal, making it one of the most prolific individual accomplishments in all of sports.  

When Dwight Howard put on the Superman garb and caught his own alley-oop, coming down with an amazing throw-down slam, you were witnessing one of the best dunks ever. 

Contrary to popular belief, dunking is not easy.  NBA players like Blake Griffin, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard all make it look easy because they are so good at it.  But most basketball players lose the ability to dunk before they lose the ability to make a three-point shot from 23 feet out.

This makes the dunk far more difficult than the three-point shot.  So why not one-up the current three-point shot scoring system and award the most prolific dunkers for their exploits in a way that would have far more impact on the game from a fan's perspective, than what scoring it as two points currently does?

Here are a couple of scenarios that could make a dunk shot count as four points:

 Scenario No. 1

If the dunk is attempted and completed beyond a certain distance from the basket (A Four-Point Dunking Zone), make it count as four points.  I say, pick a distance between the mark that currently allows a defensive player to draw a charging foul, and go up toward the free-throw line or just create an area that is very challenging but gives great rewards when a dunk is launched from this point. If the dunker launches his dunk from any point within this area and successfully makes the dunk, score it as four points.   

Scenario No. 2

If and when the dunk is attempted and completed within the "Dunking Zone" and/or it is completed over two or more opposing players in that specific area of the court, score it as four points.

Now most people will say that this is impossible and it wouldn't be good for the game because it would totally destroy all of the old scoring records and change an adequate scoring system that has already been established.  Others will argue that a dunk is not as difficult as a 3-point shot attempt.   Owners and GMs would probably argue that the amount of players injuries would increase. 

But some of these same types of arguments were brought out when the 3-point shot was implemented.  And just like when it was first introduced, teams, coaches, statisticians, historians and everyone "keeping score" would be able to make the adjustment after after seeing how much more exciting the game will be.      

So is basketball ready for this? I believe it is. What do you think? Hit me up and let me know. Let's get some dialog going on this subject for the basketball rules committee people to hear and consider.

What is a Slam Dunk in Basketball - How Many Points?

A basketball slam dunk occurs when a player jumps in the air and drives the basketball through the hoop while touching the rim with one or two hands. Dunkers are typically tall players on a team who can camp out near the basketball paint, but athletic players like Spud Webb at 5’7″ can dunk as well, but it’s rarer. Here is the complete breakdown about dunks in basketball and more in this post!

How Many Points is a Dunk Worth During a Basketball Game?

A successful dunk is worth two points for the offense team. The official score of the play is a field goal for that player since it is an attempt to score. If the offensive player misses the dunk, it will count against their field goal percentage.

What are Some Examples of a Dunk During a Game?

What makes the dunk during a basketball game so fascinating is the finesse of what a player can do. For example, a dunk can be something basic where someone jumps up with two hands a short distance away from the hoop and slams the ball in. Other times, you will see players spin in the air, extend their arms before slamming the ball in the hoop, or something else.

With the popularity of the dunk, you have the NBA Slam Dunk Content during the All-Star Game every year for fans to enjoy.

What is the NBA Slam Dunk Contest?

The first official NBA Slam Dunk winner came in 1984 with Larry Nance of the Phoenix Suns. Since then, the contest has grown in both spectacle and voting over the years. Here is the list of every NBA Slam Dunk winner.

Some of the most memorable slam dunks include 360 windmills, alley-oops, and dunks between their legs. Amar’e Stoudemire did an alley-oop 360 off a soccer header from his teammate, Steve Nash, which was new. You even have some players jump over a teammate or car to make a dunk, which adds to the slam dunker’s mystique.

Another exciting part of the slam dunk contest is the respect between players and fans during the match. In 2007, past dunk winners like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Julius Erving, and Vince Carter were all judges. Now, fan voting is part of the equation for determining who had the best dunk, which adds to the strong connection between players and fans during the contest.

Can a Player Dunk from the Free-Throw Line?

The distance from the free-throw line to the backboard is 15′ on a basketball court. Jim Pollard and Wilt Chamberlain were both able to dunk from that line during their career, which is impressive. Outside of that, Michael Jordan made this dunk special when he performed it during the 1987 Slam Dunk contest. Performing this dunk during the Slam Dunk contest is impressive, but MJ had a running start with no defenders to block him.

When Did the Phrase “Dunk Shot” Enter the Game?

Initially, teams and announcers would call a dunk a dunk shot. Los Angeles Lakers announcer, Chick Hearn, phrased the play as a slam dunk during his broadcast. Check out some other phrases that Chris brought to the game of basketball like Air ball, Frozen Rope, Pressure cooker, and more.

What is the Difference Between a Dunk and a Slam Dunk?

A dunk and a slam dunk virtually mean the same thing. Sometimes you will hear announcers or fans reference the play as a slam dunk because it was a sure thing. For example, a player running down the court via a fast break with no defenders might be a slam dunk since it is a sure thing.

Why Do Basketball Players Slam Dunk During a Game?

The dunk is the highest percentage shot that a player can take during the game. Unlike a traditional layup, free throw, or three-point that requires more air time and the elements of bouncing off the rim, the dunk is relatively a sure thing. The dunk is a thing since the player holds onto the ball and throws the ball into the hoop.

Basketball teams design offensive plays to allow players to dunk on a quick pass or even make plays like the alley-oop that has one player pass the ball to another in the air to score then.

Why was the Slam Dunk Banned for a Bit in NCAA Basketball?

The NCAA organization banned a dunk from 1967-1977 because they thought the shot had no skill and created injuries. However, there was controversy if the rule was to stop UCLA Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) from regularly dunking during college basketball games. At that time, the Lew Alcindor Rule was the unofficial name for this rule change.

After the 1977 season, the ability to dunk during a game came back.

Is it Illegal to Dunk in the WNBA?

Nope! Women’s National Basketball players can dunk during a basketball game just like the NBA. However, dunks are extremely rare during a WNBA game, where 28 dunks took place since the 1997 start of the organization as of October 25th, 2021.

Lisa Leslie was the first player ever to dunk during a game in 2002. Outside of Lisa Leslie, Brittney Griner comes to mind when you think of WNBA dunks. Out of the 28 dunks as of October 2021, 20 belong to Brittney Griner. As of October 25th, 2021, the last dunk belongs to Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury.

Why Do Dunks Occur Less often in the WNBA?

While a dunk in the NBA is typical, the WNBA is extremely rare. One reason comes down to the height of players, where the average WNBA is about 7 inches shorter than an NBA player. Another reason outside of height is the vertical leap, where NBA players tend to have a higher jump than their female counterparts.

What Happens if You Shatter the Backboard?

If a player shatters the backboard on a dunk, the game is paused, and the backboard is replaced. While the game is delayed, the player who broke the backboard receives a technical foul and a fine. However, the player won’t be ejected from the competition.

The first official NBA backboard was destroyed in 1946 by Chuck Connors. Chuck Connors broke the backboard on a throw, which was surprising.

When Shaquille O’Neal entered the league and regularly broke backboards, the league had to change the backboard material’s structure. Before changing the material, you would see glass shatter at times from Shaq on a dunk, which was impressive but also very dangerous.

When Was the First Official Dunk?

Joe Fortenberry in the 1938 Olympic Trials receives credit as the first organized game to have a dunk.

An Olympic gold medalist, Bob Kurland, also receives credit from some for the first slam dunk in games. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, teams saw a dunk as a sign of disrespect. However, as the years went by, the dunk became more common during a basketball game.

Conclusion: What is a Slam Dunk in Basketball

In summary, a slam dunk is a type of basketball shot that yields a lot of emotion during a basketball game. The dunk is worth two points, but the thrill of the play can be a momentum swing for one side. With the excitement of the dunk during regular-season games, the NBA Slam Dunk Contest occurs every year.

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Dunks - the desperate beauty of basketball: who figured out how dangerous they are and were they really banned because of racism? - Bank shot - Blogs

Answering the main questions.

Where did dunks come from?

When James Naismith invented basketball, he couldn't even imagine how his idea could be perverted like this: no dunks, that is, the direct direction of the ball into the basket with his hands touching it, were certainly not supposed. The defect was a consequence of the existing infrastructure. In the gyms of that era, the treadmill was on the balcony, at a height of three meters, and it was there that it was decided to hang peach baskets. The architectural feature of the building determined the history of the game.

Naismith was guided by the fact that basketball would be a sport for people of a standard build, and therefore no one would reach into the basket with their hands.

The erroneous calculations were revealed rather quickly.

Already in the 10s, there were people in the regional leagues in the American East who knew how to score from above. For this, it was not even always necessary to have good height and jump. For example, we know of a dodgy, sly-eyed citizen named Jack Inglis from New York. Some matches then took place on playgrounds fenced with nets. As he writes in the book "Stories of the Knicks" -1969/70" Bill Gutman, the aforementioned gentleman, "jumped onto the net under the hoop, climbed on it to ring height, and while the defenders watched helplessly, took the pass from a partner and put it in the goal."

Officially, the first dunk was recorded at the Olympics in 1936 and, of course, caused a scandal. Its author is Joe Fortenberry, the two-meter captain of the American team. He decided that the unsportsmanlike connotations of a throw from above, which were in use within the country, could be forgotten in the framework of an international tournament, and therefore began to demonstrate his physical superiority over Japanese athletes, including with the help of ethically unacceptable techniques. Fortenberry - as the New York Times wrote at the time - "showed an amazing ability to plunge the ball right into the ring as if a cafeteria visitor plunged a bun into coffee. "

The Japanese then came up with the idea of ​​banning players over 187 centimeters tall from participating in basketball games. Not only did Fortenberry demoralize them with unprecedented dunks, but the rest of the Americans were passing the ball at a height that was inaccessible to the Asians.

White can jump. Best white dunkers in NBA history

Fortenberry has gone down in history, but has always said he wasn't the first person to dunk. There are a number of indications that by the 1930s, overhead throws were already firmly labeled “dunk shots”. Thus, the publication of the Woodland Daily Democrat at 1933rd reports on the exploits of UCLA star Barney Dobbas, who scored 27 out of 42 points against the Gentlemen of Chico State and also "cut through the defense, dribbled the floor and hit another 'dunk' shot to take out your team ahead.

In general, both the dunks themselves and their designation were present in basketball almost from the very beginning (they say that in the zero years of the 20th century, the term “dunk” could mean any defeat of the hoop). The problem is that this version of the ring attack remained semi-forbidden, and therefore was perceived as the “ugly duckling” of the basketball world - as something obscene, violating the principles of the sport of the game, immoral.

Why were dunks banned?

By the 1940s and beyond, basketball looked less and less like the game that gained interest at the turn of the century. More and more players under two meters appeared in the teams, and the ball was passed to each other with much less enthusiasm (initially, it was in gambling that its meaning was).

Dunks, however, had many internal limitations.

Ethical stigma did not disappear until the 70s.

“I knew how to bet on top, translate behind my back and everything else,” said Oscar Robertson. – I got nailed from above back in school, and my coach gave me a blast, so I never did that again. Dunks are bullshit, public game . All the stars of my era could bet on top, but did not understand why they needed it. We respected each other too much to put each other through. Dunk, transfer behind the back and other rubbish - this does not require any equipment. I was taught in school what a good shot is, how to get close to the rim, how every possession counts.”

And besides, it was simply dangerous to health. The person who put it on top was obviously considered a provocateur and they tried to punish him right on the floor - for example, they rolled under him when he landed. In an era when full-scale fights, fisticuffs, elbow strikes were a common part of the process, no one really wanted to take risks. It is known that Wilt Chamberlain put in a ring suspended at a height of 3.5 meters, but in the NBA the super-scoring center was not famous for his dunks, but for his elegant hanging of the ball over the ring. This was explained by the fact that the giant was embarrassed by his strength and was worried that he was portrayed as an ordinary thug, and not a skilled player.

“In those days, the unwritten rule was that a high jumper would be taken out of the game,” explained Satch Sanders.

But still, the dunks crawled under the surface. Occasionally, in the form of entertainment for fans before matches, as demonstrative acts of revenge (for example, an enraged Chamberlain crippled several rivals in his hearts - Johnny Kerr assured that he scored the ball with such force that he broke his toe).

Bill Russell was the first to start batting regularly. A legend of such magnitude and such harmfulness (the center was famous for his quarrelsome character, was constantly dissatisfied with everyone and personally dealt with offenders) dunks said goodbye.

“Russell dropped his parachutes after Kuzi's passes, but there was no outrageousness,” Slater Martin explained. - He just caught the ball in the air and sent it to the ring. Nothing special. We put up with it: it was Bill's throw. He did not stick out himself in any way, did not say anything, did not wave his hands. We didn't see the dunk as a throw that required special skill. If you can jump up, then you are able to get the ball into the ring. And what's next?

And, of course, the aesthetic component of the dunks was completely inaccessible to the participants of the competition. On the contrary: they were considered the epitome of the ugliness of the changed game, since the 40s, the movement has become louder and louder to raise the rings higher and deprive the big players of the opportunity to score from above (and then only the “big” ones were dunked, for whom it was simply more convenient than inventing any another throw).

Fog Allen, a student of James Naismith in Kansas, formed a group of coaches and journalists who, for decades, have expressed concern about the declining technique of basketball players and exposed the giants who are trying to take basketball away from kids.

« There shouldn't be any dunks in basketball. The dunk is not a demonstration of basketball skill, but only a demonstration of the growth of , Allen wrote in the 37th in the book For the Best Basketball. “Someday there will be a whole team of giants, both smart and fast, they will put the ball into the ring with one hand, like children who dip coins into gum machines . .. But let them look for some other sport for themselves.”

The activists who joined Allen didn't like anything.

No retreat from throws. They complained that instead of shooting from a distance, the ball was simply delivered under the ring, where it was ferried to the goal.

Not that tall players brush off balls falling into the hoop. (Then there was no rule forbidding this).

No increase in performance. In their opinion, this devalued the importance of the points scored.

The way out seemed simple to them: lift the rings half a meter. Such experiments were carried out repeatedly: in the 34th year, during the life of James Naismith, at the University of Kansas, in the 40th - at the University of Washington, in the 54th - already in the NBA, in the match between the Lakers and Milwaukee.

Although all the participants gave overwhelmingly positive feedback, no one had the guts to get it all down on paper.

The rules, of course, did not change at all in the way that Allen and his supporters wanted. The ring remained in place, and the role of the “big ones” was limited due to the restriction of “paint” and the ban on “holtending”.

And the NCAA came to an outright ban on the dunk. In the student league, it was impossible to bet on top from 67th to 76th.

The NCAA dunks came from Oklahoma's Bob Courland: one of basketball's first seven-footers "accidentally" hit overhead in '44, after which overhand throws became acceptable as unobtrusive "accidents."

Introducing the ban, the league argued it all the same: a large number of injuries under the shields (one and a half thousand cases per year), damaged property (allegedly the Houston players somehow bent the ring), as well as the standard argument “dunk is a throw that does not require no skill” ...

But the timing was extremely unfortunate.

First, in the 66th NCAA champion was the team of Don Haskins from West Texas, the same team that first had a starting five of black guys.

Secondly, in 1967, young Lew Elsindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) set the NCAA on fire: a UCLA record in the first match, an undefeated game, a champion title and a bunch of personal regalia.

The dunking ban became known as the Lew Elsindor Rule. And he himself saw the true reasons not even for the desire to restrain himself, but in the broader factor of racism.

“For me, the no-dunk rule is blatant discrimination,” he said at the time. - If you analyze the situation, you will understand that those who can bet from above are mostly blacks. Dunk is one of the main ways to entertain people, and there is no reason to refuse it, except for one: to prevent this and other niggas from commanding this sport .

The funny thing is that many years later it turned out that one of the initiators of the ban was John Wooden, Jabbar's coach at UCLA.

“Coach, how could you vote for a ban?” retells their explanation in the center's autobiography. “I thought it would be a boon for the game.” "Whose games? It has made life more difficult for UCLA than for anyone else. " "It's an ugly throw, Karim, it's nothing but brute force." I was amazed: I was not famous for brute force. “Basketball is a team effort. A dunk is just a way to humiliate an opponent.”

Dunk has not ceased to be a source of scandal. But now it has also acquired pronounced cultural associations. Coach Robert Bounce tightened Jabbar's language even further: " They're trying to stop the 190cm bros from jacking off the crowds and dunking the huge white guys... Everybody knows that dunking is a trademark of black street basketball."

How did the dunk come into fashion?

America lived in a state of racial segregation. Basketball also lived in a state of racial segregation.

The NBA celebrated team basketball and treated dunking as something offensive. At the same time, stories about the legendary dunkers of street basketball were heard from a parallel dimension: Earl "Goat" Manigault, Herman "Helicopter" Novings, Joe "Destroyer" Hammond ...

Philosophical differences were irreconcilable.

“I look at today's players, all these 360 ​​dunks and all that crap, and I'm like, 'We've never done that kind of stuff,'” said Wilt Chamberlain. Not because we didn't know how to do it. Do you really think that Wilt Chamberlain or Elgin Baylor couldn't make a mind-blowing dunk? You should look at our trainings. But there was a strict code of conduct. Yes, you could sometimes score from above, but not in order to humiliate the opponent . I saw a guy put in a crazy dunk here, even though his team is burning 20 points. What the hell is this? If you tried that in my time, you'd have your leg broken. It's all the psychology of the Globetrotters, the show comes first. Our game was number one."

The differences were irreconcilable... But the parallel reality was impossible to hide.

Michael Jordan's idol David Thompson spent his entire career at the university during the dunking ban. Somehow, he couldn't resist.

“It was very difficult for me not to score from above when you are constantly flying over the ring,” he said. – It would have been easier to catch passes and put them in the basket right away, but I had to dodge. At the end of the last game of my last season, I ran away. Couldn't turn down this opportunity. They gave me a technical one, but the stands exploded with applause. My coach Norm Sloan replaced me immediately."

Dunks broke into the official world. Even smuggling.

In the late 60s, the strict, conservative NBA has a daring competitor with crazy innovations - the ABA. First of all, the new league is moving away from team basketball and focusing on promoting strong personalities, offensive basketball, and the hardest hitting game in the game, which is 90,135 three-pointers 90,136 dunks. It is no coincidence that the most exciting performers of the era are in the new league: David Thompson, Julius Irving, George Gervin, Gus Johnson, Moses Malone ... The ABA has taken the power of black street basketball and released it into the professional basketball dimension.

“In the NBA, if they bet through you, you had to clean his face,” Irving said. “But in the ABA, dunking has become part of the game. The ABA was betting on everything new. So we didn't bother with dunks. When I got into the NBA, Dave Cowens told me: “If you bet through someone, your head will be torn off.” I told him that I would still continue to bet from above, because this is the most effective throw, this is part of my game. He was not mistaken: they really tried to tear off my head, but they did not succeed.

In 1976, the last year of its existence, the ABA logically came up with the idea of ​​an overhand throw contest.

"The dunk meant a lot more to the ABA than it does to the NBA today," Dan Issel explained. – It was a declaration of your talent and your male superiority . He was so important to the ABA that the pre-match warm-ups turned into a show. For example, the Nets had this guy Ollie Taylor, who just went crazy. He did windmills, he did roundabout dunks, everything you can imagine, and the stands were on their ears before the game even started. The competition was a continuation of this idea.”

It is important to understand that everything was spontaneous in that first competition. And he himself was invented simply as a way to somehow keep the fans busy during the break. And the dunkers spent about zero minutes preparing something original, and mostly improvised. And there was no special basis for organizing a real competition.

But that very first contest summed up everything that ABA was. And that's why it happened.

76th is the time of the first great dunk, Julius Irving's final run from the free throw line.

The 76th is an official confirmation that dunks are not only legalized (the NCAA lifted the ban just then), but have already come into vogue with might and main.

The 76th is the moment that radically changes basketball and its entire history. Dunk returns as a beautiful swan and almost the main symbol of the game - its marketing ram, evidence of its athletic superiority, its claim to violate the laws of physics and reveal alien connections.

The help of the ABA and its creative approach accelerated the inevitable process. In the 70s, basketball is increasingly becoming a game of blacks, which, in particular, implies serious adjustments to the gentleman's code.

Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with the fact that basketball is going "black" in the media turns into dissatisfaction with the fact that basketball is becoming a game of dunking. In 1981, one author complains that "if the gorillas broke out of the zoo and started playing basketball, they would only bet from above" . An LA Times journalist complains that the dimensions of modern basketball players "no longer fit the shackles of slave courts." And when NBC chose college league games over professional games, their manager explained that "the NBA has become too black for many fans to like."

How did dunk become art?

Aestheticization of dunk is such an integral part of the 80s that it is not customary to talk about it. The NBA is believed to have been saved by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Well, maximum - Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and David Stern. In fact, the NBA was saved by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, David Stern and dunks, beautiful and varied.

First of all, it is worth noting the diversity.

For all their ability to fly, Irving, Thompson and the others were pretty straight forward. The first who began to discover new essences of dunk was a man from that very Jordanian "cocaine circus" - Orlando Woolridge. He scored first from above, carrying the ball between his legs. And he showed that there is much more to the dunk than pure athleticism, the amplitude of the jump, or even the flowing Afro hairstyle.

The great ones followed him.

Michael Jordan did not conquer the world in one fell swoop. It took him several stages to do this, and at the first of them he appeared as His Air, a person who seemed to be able to soar on the top, as if inaccessible to gravity, as if he was a realistic version of a superhero. Superman flies unnaturally, Spiderman, Carlson and Batman use additional devices, but Jordan, Jordan is the embodiment of harmony and confirmation that this element is not so alien, albeit for not quite a person.

In the late 80s, Jordan and Dominic Wilkins make the dunk contest one of the NBA calendar year's highlights.

Their numbers don't look very good now. But three key things need to be said:

1. These contests produced some legendary dunks, including Jordan's dunk, where he almost lays down in the air, and Wilkins' dunk mill.

2. At this point, slamdunk contests become a very prestigious event and a special pride of the league: the NBA managed to make something, strictly speaking, very loosely related to basketball, an original standalone spectacle and considered it necessary to stimulate interest further.

3. The League saw an abyss of aesthetic potential in the throw from above and managed to draw from it for more than 30 years.

The history of competitions is very unstable: they turn out to be completely different, sometimes disastrous, sometimes contradictory, they alternate depressive fiascos and return to resonant confrontations between Jordan and Wilkins, they balance between closing and opening a window to a separate sport. It is already clear that all these fluctuations are normal. Competitions evolve, albeit in fits and starts, and systematically explore the beauty and originality of the dunk: the athletic greatness of Jordan and Wilkins is taken to a new level by the athletic greatness of first Vince Carter and Jason Richardson, and then Aron Gordon and Zach Lavin; the fantasies of Dee Brown and Cedric Cebalos return with the fantasies of Blake Griffin, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, the need for crumbs in the 80s is satisfied by Spudd Webb, the need for crumbs in the 2000s is Nate Robinson, every year the balance between the originality of the idea and the effect of execution is adjusted ...

Dunk - in this case, as an autonomous element, echoing and exceeding in elegance any body movement from figure skating - added a much-needed component of pure aesthetics to basketball . In other sports, exceptional goals bring beauty, but in basketball they found a way to correct standardized shots like this.

It can hardly be considered a coincidence that the league started to grow at the moment when they stopped considering dunks as a scandal.

How did the dunk turn into a weapon of destruction?

The aesthetics of dunk, however, like any aesthetics, is not clear to everyone. What feels much better is the humiliation/destruction/self-affirmation that this element has from the very beginning.

Dunks developed in two directions.

From above - from the NBA office - they set the course for technicality, fantasy, new horizons of possibilities.

From below - from the non-NBA ghetto - an impulse of a different nature came.

Basketball philosophers and purists saw no place for the dunk in basketball as early as the aristocratic 1920s and 1930s. In the 60s, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson did not understand where the desire to destroy colleagues comes from. Even the guys from the semi-underground ABA arranged everything as delicately as possible.

Here, for example, is another legendary dunk - Julius Irving esthetes against the tangible background of Michael Cooper. It's obvious that the Lakers forward isn't having a lot of fun, but it's hard to find a snub in this moment.

One way or another, the NBA player culture went downhill in the late 80s. Boys from high school, mommy gangsters, "too much too soon"... The League was still badass, but it had lost the respect for each other that previous generations had. For the new one, the dunk turned out to be the best way to settle scores, stick out oneself, and discredit enemies.

The cultural change was evident.

“Throwing is a lost art,” lamented Doug Collins. - Now the entire NBA is obsessed with a one-on-one game, a constant confrontation, the main weapon of which is the dunk. You run in and bet through me, then I land six shots through you, but your one dunk counts as a stronger statement than my six mid-range shots.”

One of the most significant figures of the era is Sean Kemp. The beast of street basketball infiltrated the NBA in the form of a hyper-athletic power forward who didn't even make it to a year of college due to various dubious stories. The consequences were horrendous: by acquiring assistant Payton and liberal coach Carl as partners, Kemp emphasized his physical dominance with a hurricane of alley-ups, crazy passes, fearless flights. Moreover, his dunks have always been an expression of contempt, forceful suppression, metaphysical destruction. Therefore, he did not limit himself only to them, but also mocked the defeated, conveyed his thoughts in a variety of ways, celebrated picturesquely and generally made a whole ritual out of dunk, noting that something completely unusual had happened, forever disgracing the opponent and affirming the complete superiority of Kemp himself.

Payton and Kemp's team chased the opponent through the corridor of endless parachutes and dunks and never hid that this offensive procedure was the main reason for entering the floor. Representatives of the old school paid attention to something else. Sonics signature combo is not alley-oops. Sonics' trademark combo is when an unclean pair ran out to the ring and could easily put the ball in the ring, but instead they started to invent some kind of game, the ball bounced off the opponent, and their team received an immediate counterattack and a four-point slap in the face.

This attitude - a commitment to constant confrontation, where the dunk was the only argument - infected the entire league. From the early 90s to the mid 2000s, we saw some of the best dunks in basketball history. And, of course, what makes them the best is precisely the fact that they grew out of sincere, unrestrained, splashing hatred .

Tom Chambers plunged his knees into Mark Jackson's chest.

Dominic Wilkins killed Larry Bird.

Dikembe Mutombo begged Michael Jordan to do something humiliating to him.

Kobe baptized Dwight Howard.

Vince Carter shook the fundamentality of Tim Duncan.

Shaquille O'Neal wrapped his panties around Chris Dudley's head.

Baron Davis crushed Andrey Kirilenko.

Kevin Johnson stuck through Hakim Olajuwon.

John Starks at least put Chicago in its place.

Ricky Davis inflicted a mental injury on Steve Nash.

Scottie Pippen wiped his feet on the corpse of Patrick Ewing.

Each of these moments is a separate story with an original plot, unique relationships between characters, unique surroundings. But it is important to understand that they all grew out of the atmosphere of a particular era, which glorified the destruction dunk as the highest value in basketball.

It was against this backdrop that the undisputedly best dunk in basketball history, the death dunk, was born: Vince Carter climbed into the clouds to jump over a seven-foot mountain in the form of Frederick Weiss.

Carter has taken all the best from the great masters of the 80s-90s and compiled a variety of messages in his now classic style. Here are the turntables of Dominic Wilkins, and the “lulling of the ball” by Julius Irving, and the removals from below by Jordan - but there are already enough imitators, and in the case of Carter, everything was determined by the ability to take off above the floor and soar above it as only he could.

The cleanliness here is simply cinematic. We won't see anything better. Including because those ideals - no matter how controversial they may be - are gone forever.

How dangerous are dunks?

Very.

But somehow it was not customary to think and reason about this.

For quite a long time, the danger from dunks was assessed only by the degree of material damage. Both the NCAA leadership and the club bosses did not hide the fact that they are much more worried about expensive equipment than for their players. And therefore they were forbidden to bet on top not only during games, but also during warm-ups. There were also direct threats that the cost of broken shields and mangled rings would be deducted from tiny salaries.

It only helped a little. In the 1960s, the 198-centimeter Baltimore forward Gus Johnson became famous for breaking three shields over the course of several years. (For entourage: he had a gold star inserted on his tooth, and once he touched a point at a height of 3. 5 meters from the floor in a bar for a bet). And in '70, Pittsburgh's Charlie "Helicopter" Hentz took the ABA's emphasis on dunking and fun too literally and won the game against the Carolinas in the original way. In the course of one game, he managed to first tear off the ring, and then also break the shield after replacing the stand: the hosts' coach consulted with the referees and decided to end the matter and give the victory to the raging vandal.

In 1976, not only did the dunk revolution take place, but also the shield revolution: Arthur Erhat proposed a new ring design that minimized damage from the most powerful throws from above. There were more and more danks, but only a few managed to imagine a throw from above in its dangerous form. Michael Jordan is extremely lucky. But Darryl Dawkins and Shaquille O'Neal deliberately created the image of omnipotent destroyers and raped the shields with all their remarkable strength.

Chocolate Thunder. 7 Facts That Will Keep Darryl Dawkins In NBA History Forever0004

Originally created by former Nike creative director Peter Moore (the same as the Jordan I ), the Dunk was intended as a natural evolution of the Air Force 1 , which debuted three years earlier. Sharing similarities to both the Jordan I and the Nike Terminator , the upper featured subtle changes, sort of a sweet spot between the two aforementioned silhouettes. Although often cited as the precursor to the Jordan I , the Dunk was actually released slightly after the original Jordan , which was personally designed to convince Jordan himself to sign with a tick. Since the latter were created on the basis of the Nike Legend - at the time the most successful 9 basketball shoes0003 Nike - They didn't really stand out from the rest of Nike's line.

Originally called the College Color High, the shoe coincidentally coincided with the 40th anniversary of the "first" slam dunk, leading to a last-minute name change. In fact, the sneaker's most memorable aspect was its debut marketing campaign. Leading up to the release of the shoe, Nike launched the now iconic "Be True to Your School" collection, one of the most effective (if unexpected) ads in the brand's nascent history at the time. According to "College Color", Nike Dunk was designed as a shoe for college basketball teams. The idea was simple: sponsor successful Division I college teams and provide players with different colored shoes, then sell the same shoes at the respective campus so fans can match their school's star players. Teams such as UNLV, Michigan, St. John's, Syracuse, Iowa, and Kentucky (among others) have all received "Be Truthful" status. It was an amazing success. Dunks worked especially well with young men, who adored their bold college colors, a rarity at the time.

The dunk was a favorite in the mid to late 80s, but with basketball's explosive rise in popularity and renewed focus on technological innovation in the sneaker industry, the dunk quickly became obsolete - no longer suited to the court. However, it remained a reliable everyday running shoe with minor changes over the next decade, including a nylon tongue to reduce weight, a shorter shaft, and an enlarged, thicker swoosh.

Incidentally, these changes have made the shoe even more appealing to a completely separate audience - the skate community. Back at 19'86 Dunks were seen in skateboarding commercials, most notably by members of the NYC SHUT Skates crew at the Iowa Dunk Hees, and by the early '90s, many of the most famous figures in the skate community, from the Z-Boys to Mark Gonzalez - would ride in the dunks. Although "Dunks" has become synonymous with figures shaping the skate scene, it took more than a decade before Nike was able to successfully infiltrate the industry.

In 1999, after 14 years, Nike, finally re-released the Be True to Your School package for the first time, adding a number of additional colorways to it. Of the new releases, by far the most notable has been the now infamous "Wu-Tang" Dunk . Actually just a special edition of the Iowa Dunk with "Wu W" embroidered on the heel, Nike redesigned and created 36 pairs - an ode to the group's important album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - that were gifted to Wu. -Members of the Tang clan and associates. Eventually word spread and, given its incredible rarity, a legend was born. These shoes are some of the most valuable and sought-after dunks on the market today, selling for tens of thousands of dollars... that is, if you can find them.

The heyday of cross-country forums like NikeTalk in the early 2000s coincided perfectly with Dunk 's retrospective. Many of the early sneakerheads focused primarily on collecting not only the Be True set, but regional exclusives as well. Although these geographically restricted dunks had been around for a couple of years, before the rise of forum culture, it was almost impossible to learn about them - let alone buy them - if you lived outside the immediate area. However, with eager collectors writing about every single issue, buying and selling suddenly became a real possibility. Even CO.JP releases (Japan-exclusive Dunk colorways) suddenly became prominent. Led in part by the godfather of Japanese streetwear Hiroshi Fujiwara himself, CO.JP's exclusive merchandise was so enticing that eager fans literally made trips all over the world for a chance to win a pair in what was later dubbed "cross-tourism". During these trips, the sneakerheads naturally went shopping, discovering and exporting the most famous streetwear brands from the countries back to the States.

While the mainstream dunks largely dropped, throughout the '00s the Nike SB Dunks were at the center of sneaker culture. Not only were the colorways sold out, but the demand was so great that riots ensued, the most notorious of which was due to the infamous "Pigeon" SB Dunk Low . Sold at the designer and creative collaborator's Reed Space retail store on Manhattan's Lower East Side, thousands of eager shoppers flooded the streets on the day of the fall. The hype was so strong that every successful customer needed a police escort to leave the store safely. The "Pigeon Dunk" riot was not only an iconic moment for SB Dunk, but also made national headlines, and is mostly cited as the moment that sneaker culture went mainstream. Suddenly a once-niche subculture is sneaker collecting 9The 0003 Nike became a household staple and the Nike Dunk took center stage.

Nike SB released countless collectible dunks over the next five years, ranging from collaborations with graffiti artist Futura (D.U.N.K.L.E.S) to tributes to Guns 'n Roses. From the unreleased Paris Dunks - the most expensive pair on the market - to the trio of "Bear" Dunks (inspired by the Goldilocks story) with outer fur, the SB Dunk mania has flourished. Inevitably, stores popped up to support the growing aftermarket, and buyers resold pairs like rare Jordans.

However, despite notable releases in the early 2010s, for some reason the market crashed. Couples who, just a few years before, had whole four-figure amounts by 2015 were essentially worthless. Whether it's a change in taste or the introduction of new lines of sneakers (like the Yeezy ), for some inexplicable reason, the shoe once considered the "Grail" was no longer up for discussion.

Interestingly enough, when the SB Dunks disappeared, the main line Nike Dunks began to return. In 2015, the Nike re-released several colors from the Be True to Your School set. In honor of the shoe's 30th anniversary, this retro was unlike the previous two, which featured unusual refinements such as "vintage" leather or ostrich-embossed tracks. In contrast, this new crop has been almost completely recreated from the 1999 models, slightly wider and shorter than the 1985 originals. Though they didn't make much of an impression, 9The 0003 Nike Dunks is suddenly in the spotlight.

A year later, Comme des Garçons Homme Plus brought the Dunk high-top sneakers to the runway, in black/turquoise/white with a transparent PVC upper. They were by no means a resounding success compared to other Comme des Garçons x Nike collaborations, although the $400 price tag could have been a major hurdle. However, the runway appearance was proof that after years of being out of date, Dunks was ready to make a comeback.

It was around the same time that vintage sneakers started to take off in earnest. Fans are tired of the endless retrospectives and cyclical dropouts, and many have tried to track down the real OGs, most notably the 1985 Jordan Is, but also the vintage Dunks . From '99 "Be True to Your School" Kentucky Dunks to A.P.C. Dunk, stylish men are suddenly proud of a decade-old sneaker. Of course, the forces to look out for and soon everyone from Virgil Abloh to Kim Jones were on the hunt for these vintage silhouettes. In 2019Abloh regularly saw him rocking both Michigan and Syracuse Dunk, and his next Off-White x Nike collaboration was, you guessed it, the Dunks . In particular, Abloh used the Dunk Low , inspired by the Be True colorway, the trio - UNLV, Michigan and Celtics - featured an orange quick lacing system with elastic cord, an orange tag for hanging under the swoosh and a patented plastic Velcro. Naturally, they were a huge success. Building on the hype, next year Nike released the Dunk Low in a Be True colorway to coincide with the shoe's 35th anniversary. While the dunk high hasn't arrived yet, we're sure they will soon.

Oddly enough, nearly a decade after the market collapsed, the SB Dunks are once again coveted. While a number of releases over the past few years have helped restore the image of the SB Dunk - including the latest SB Dunk Low "Lobster" in collaboration with Boston-based retailer Concepts - it's actually Travis Scott who is owed the bulk of the credit. A well-known SB fan, Scott regularly makes it to some of the rarest SB Dunks , introducing a new, younger generation of fans to a shoe they have largely missed out on.

Scott even designed the exclusive "Cactus Jack" SB Dunk as part of his ongoing collaboration with the brand, a clear sign of his dedication to the silhouette. Now, many of the most coveted dunks are on the rise again, with shoes that cost less than $100 in 2016 selling for thousands. Coincidence? We doubt it.

Now that the Dunk is celebrating its 35th anniversary, it is clearly in the Nike pantheon of great players. While it may not deserve the respect of its predecessors, Dunk persevered and by focusing on colorways, collaborations and avoiding unnecessary design updates, it went from fresh to dated to vintage and back again. With the support of a number of notable celebrities, the full endorsement of the Nike , and renewed interest in the SB back catalog, the wave of dunk has finally arrived.

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