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Hey! The Phoenix Suns won last night! That was fun, wasn’t it?
With all the losses piling up, I thought it was time for a fun Throwback Thursday. And what’s more fun than slam dunks? Here are some of the greatest slam dunks in Phoenix Suns franchise history. Think I forgot something? By all means, call me out and share it in the comments!
The Ones that Didn’t Count:
Cedric Ceballos Blindfold Dunk at 1992 Dunk Contest
Could he see? Could he not? It doesn’t matter as Cedric Ceballos brought home the 1992 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest trophy with this prop-assisted stunt dunk.
Larry Nance Ices 1984 Dunk Contest vs. Julius Erving
Some of these dunks look pretty quaint by today’s dunk contest standards. But 8 years before Cedric Ceballos won the slam dunk contest, Larry Nance used no props in taking down one of the most spectacular dunkers of all time. I’ve linked to his final dunk below, but you can watch all of his contest dunks by restarting the video.
Dan Majerle Over Manute Bol
Dan Majerle is 6’ 6”. Manute Bol is 7’ 7”. Dan Majerle dunked on Manute Bol, and not in the sideways sneaky way that a lot players get to dunk on guys with a notable size advantage. He was at, up, and through Bol. I don’t care that he was called for a charge and it didn’t count. Dan Majerle dunked on the tallest player in NBA history.
Real Dunks for Real Points:
Any Time Jared Dudley Dunks
Enough with dunks that didn’t count. Jared Dudley dunks are rare and should be treasured like the unicorns they are.
Theyare the real deal: in-game dunks that have real points attached to them.
Unless, maybe they weren’t dunks at all?
Shawn Marion Wrecks Al Harrington
Shawn Marion could get up. He was an elite finisher on alley-oops, put-backs and fast breaks. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Al Harrington that.
The Amare Stoudemire Collection
If Amare’s body had held up, he might have eventually held all the best dunks in Phoenix Suns history. That said, he had more than his fair share...
...like that time Josh Smith tried to take a charge:
...or the time Adonal Foyle thought “maybe I can go straight up and stop him”
...or the time he dunked on Michael Olowokandi so filthily that Stephon Marbury couldn’t contain his disgust.
...or the time he dunked on Anthony Tolliver so badly, the Suns agreed to give Tolliver a contract a few years later as reparations (really big of the Suns imo).
The Big Two:
So, we’ve seen some really nice dunks so far. But in terms of spectacular dunks in franchise history, there are only two that really contend for the title of best ever.
Kevin Johnson over Hakeem Olajuwon
Some might say it’s an offensive foul. Others might point out that the Suns lost the game and the series. Well, they didn’t call that offensive foul and you can’t win’em all. This is simply an electric dunk over one of the greatest defensive players ever.
Tom Chambers is still elevating over Mark Jackson
I will rarely clown a dude for getting dunked on when he challenges a dunk. If you play even a lick of defense in the NBA, you are absolutely going to end up on a poster (or on YouTube, these days) at some point. But I will never miss a chance to clown Mark Jackson and whatever he was trying to do on this play. Take a charge? Shove Chambers off his line? It doesn’t matter because it didn’t work. I haven’t seen a dunk like this before or since. And it couldn’t have happened to a better person.