Types of moves seen during the Slam Dunk Contest

[edit] Windmill

Windmill dunks are done when a player makes a circular motion with the ball while in the air before dunking it. These can either be done with one or two hands. Versions of this dunk include the Kiss the Rim, the reverse windmill (usually done with two hands), and the 360 windmill. Notable examples of this dunk are Dominique Wilkins's windmills during the 1988 and 1990 contest, Michael Jordan's kiss the rim during the 1987 and 1988 contest, Vince Carter's contest-winning reverse 360 windmill in the 2000 contest, and James White's windmill from the free throw line in the 2006 NCAA Dunk Contest.

360

360s, or "axles" (relative to spinning) are dunks where a player spins with his body for almost a full revolution. This type of dunk can be achieved by using one or two hands. There are many variations of the 360, including the reverse 360 windmill by Vince Carter in the 2000 slam dunk (where a player jumps in a reverse motion against his plane of motion), Terence Stansbury's "Statue of Liberty" 360, Air Up There's 720, or double-axle, High Riser's 360 through the legs, the double pump 360 by Tracy McGrady in the 2000 slam dunk contest, Team Flight Brothers dunker Quinton Slaughter AKA Elevator's 540[1], and many more.

Free throw line

As the name indicates, this is a dunk where the player jumps from the free throw line. The free throw line is, in the NBA, 15 feet away from the basket. Jim Pollard is known to have dunked from the foul line during warmups in the early years of the NBA.[2] At the University of Kansas, Wilt Chamberlain was able to dunk from the free throw line while starting his movement from within the free throw circle; this led to a rule change prohibiting shooting free throws by dunking the basketball.[3]

Notable examples of this dunk in a slam dunk competition are Julius Erving during the 1976 ABA contest and the 1984 NBA contest, Michael Jordan during the 1985, 1987 and 1988 contests, Scottie Pippen during the 1990 contest, Brent Barry during the 1996 contest, and former Cincinnati Bearcat James White, who has pulled off at least 5 free-throw-line jams in his contest career (in addition to a between-the-legs free throw line dunk made during his high school's midnight madness practice session).

Between the legs

Also known as "through the legs", or the "Rider" dunk (after Isaiah Rider, the first dunk champion to perform this dunk). This dunk was first performed by Orlando Woolridge of the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 dunk contest. For this dunk the ball goes between the legs of the player while in the air before being dunked. Visually impressive, these usually achieve a high score from the judges. Notable examples of this dunk include Kobe Bryant's winning jam at the 1997 contest, Vince Carter's off the floor, between the legs slam during the 2000 contest, Desmond Mason's "show it right, slam it left"

between the legs during the 2003 contest, and Jason Richardson's off the glass, between the legs dunk during the 2004 contest, and Isaiah Rider's "East Bay Funk Dunk" in the 1994 contest.

Nowadays, the "Rider" has been developed beyond just its basic through-the-legs movement. Several people in the world have managed to do a 360 Rider : Abdoul Bamba and Guy Dupuy from the Slam Nation dunking troupe, Yann de Blaine of Slam Nation and Dunkalicious dunking crews, Taurian Fontenette aka Air Up There from the AND 1 Streetball team, "High Riser" from the 2005 City Slam, and Quinton Slaughter (also known as "Elevator"). An alley-oop-off-the-floor 360 between the legs was attempted by Jason Richardson in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest, but he couldn't successfully finish the dunk, leading to his defeat by then-Indiana Pacers guard Fred Jones. James White, currently of the Houston Rockets, attempted a through the legs dunk from the free throw line during the college slam dunk contest. Although he was not successful during the contest, he did succeed in doing it during warm-ups, and had done it in the past, during his high school's midnight madness, and the high school dunk contest.

Double clutch

A "double clutch" (or "double pump") dunk is a dunk when a player brings the ball back to his body before extending the ball back out to dunk it. Versions of this dunk include the kickback, the jackknife, and the double pump. Most times the ball is brought back near the player's head before being dunked. Notable examples include Michael Jordan's double clutch, free throw line dunk from the 1988 contest, Tracy McGrady's 360 reverse double pump from the 2000 contest, Steve Francis's double pump, kiss the rim from the 2000 contest, Shawn Kemp's kickback from the 1991 contest, and Harold Miner's reverse jackknife from the 1993 contest. Vince Carter's spectacular dunk over Alonzo Mourning during the 2005-06 season also featured elements of the double-clutch.

Rock the cradle

Also known as Rock the Baby. This is a version of the windmill where the ball is "locked" into a player's wrist while the player makes a circular motion with the ball. However, unlike windmills where the ball starts the circle from the top, rock the baby dunks start the circle from the bottom. Notable examples include Larry Nance's rock the baby during the 1984 contest, Kenny Walker's baseline rock the baby during the 1989 contest, and Michael Jordan's rock the cradle jam in the 1985 contest. Jordan also had an in game dunk he called the "Magazine Dunk" that he started doing while at the University of North Carolina. Dr. J, Julius Erving, had a memorable in game cradle dunk over Michael Cooper, in the 1980 NBA Finals.

Off the backboard

Off the back board is another popular type of dunk. The player throws the ball and bounces it off the backboard, catches it in mid air and dunks it. This can be combined with other types such as the windmill, reverse or tomahawk dunk. One of the first uses of this dunk in a professional game was done by Tracy McGrady in the 2002 All-Star Game. According to Bill Walton, it was the first time he ever saw this kind of dunk, although the dunk had been previously done in a high school all star game in 2001 by

future University of Illinois star Luther Head.[1] In recent years, many other "alley-oop" dunks have become commonplace in the contest, where either the player tosses the ball to himself, or a teammate passes it to him, and the player catches it in the air and dunks it. For instance in 2006, Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers performed a never-before-seen behind the backboard dunk from a pass off team-mate Allen Iverson. A year earlier, in the 2005 Slam Dunk Contest, Amar'e Stoudemire actually caught the ball off of the head of Steve Nash, which is perhaps the most unusual variation of the "alley-oop" style of dunk to date. Nash was able to almost accurately hit the ball to Stoudemire due his soccer background, which he demonstrated prior to the attempt.

Blind dunk

One particularly tricky and therefore seldom-seen dunk is the dunk without visual cues. In 1991, Dee Brown performed a one-handed slam dunk in which he dunked with his left arm while shielding his eyes with his right arm. This was known as the "peek-a-boo" by many. One year later, Cedric Ceballos performed a blindfolded dunk, although it has been disputed as to whether or not he could actually see. In 2007, Boston Celtic Gerald Green, re-invented Dee Brown's "shielded eyes dunk" (wearing Dee Brown's throwback jersey and Reebok pumps), adding a twist to it by jumping over defending champ Nate Robinson (it was supposed to be a cardboard cutout of Nate Robinson) before completing the dunk.