ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings
Who would be on the Mount Rushmore of Dunkers?

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"Sometimes I dream... that he is me..."
MOUNT RUSHMORE OF DUNKERS? OUR FIRST PICK WOULD PROBABLY BE MJ, ALTHOUGH IT'S A TIGHT ONE
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This Mount Rushmore of Sports concept over at ESPN.Com has been pretty cool. The next big thing in sports we're all a-twitter for is the Slam Dunk Contest—Dwight, Nate, Rudy and Rudy? Gonna be amazing!—so we wanted to extend the concept. If you were making a "Mount Rushmore of Dunking," who would get on it? Below are some ideas. It's tough to call because there a few guys who were incredible dunkers but didn't amount to much as a whole product, and in creating this, we tended to lean towards "strong basketball players" too. Disagree? Holllllllla.
| TOP 5 | |||
| RANK (YESTERDAY) | WHAT | WHY | |
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1 (6) | MICHAEL JORDAN | Here's a link to Jordan's Top 10 Career dunks. The reason we have him No. 1 is that while you could make a case that say, Vince Carer is a better pure dunker than MJ, when MJ elevated, you always knew something special was going to result. Also: can you really make a list of stuff related to the NBA where MJ is a possible option and NOT make him No. 1? |
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2 (10) | DR. J | Here's a link to Dr. J's Top 10 Career dunks, via NBA TV. That cradle dunk over Michael Cooper is one of the nastiest things you'll ever see, at least from a "stunning visuals" standpoint. |
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3 (7) | DOMINIQUE WILKINS | This guy could thunder, fo' serious! |
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4 (19) | SHAWN KEMP | We're not sure if No. 4 for Kemp in this type of category is too high or too low. Judge for yourself. |
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5 (16) | VINCE CARTER | Carter is a flat-out filthy athlete and he can certainly sky. Here's some evidence. You know that when "The French Toast" dunk was first posted online, it was crashing people's servers? Ha. |
| HONORABLE MENTION | |||
| RANK (YESTERDAY) | WHAT | WHY | |
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12 (39) | DARRYL DAWKINS | Too high? Maybe. (Does it ever offend you when people spell it "mebbe?") Look at this. Best part of that clip is Brent Musburger introducing him as "from the planet Lovetron." (It's at the very beginning.) |
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21 (35) | SPUD WEBB | Just for the height factor, some of the stuff he did was pretty cool. (Like this, for example.) Should Kobe be here instead? Of course. Should Drexler? Probably. Here's a good Kobe dunk rip and a good Drexler dunk rip for ya as consolation. |
| RISING AND FALLING | ||
| MOVEMENT | WHAT | |
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| DWIGHT HOWARD (Two Slam Dunk titles in a row?) |
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| THIS GUY (Click the link.) |
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