NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest - More Information

More Information

• Vince Carter posted the highest score in any round with 149 in the 2000 first round.

• 21 players have scored at least one perfect 50 on an individual dunk: Julius Erving, Terence Stansbury, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Gerald Wilkins, Spud Webb, Jerome Kersey, Cedric Ceballos, Vince Carter, Steve Francis, Tracy McGrady, Jason Richardson, Desmond Mason, Fred Jones, Josh Smith, Amar'e Stoudemire, Andre Iguodala, Nate Robinson, Gerald Green, Dwight Howard, DeMar DeRozan, and JaVale McGee. Michael Jordan holds the record of most perfect 50s, with six, followed by Dominique Wilkins and Jason Richardson with five each. From 1989 to 1995, when scoring went by tenths of points, there was only one perfect 50 (Ceballos).

• ESPN televised the first ever NBA slam dunk contest in 1984. In 1987, the slam dunk contest was televised live for the very first time (TBS had the honors).

• Slam dunks during contests will often include a prop, usually in the form of another teammate or player. Examples of this include Desmond Mason's jump over Rashard Lewis at the 2001 NBA slam dunk contest, Josh Smith's leap over Kenyon Martin at the 2005 contest, Baron Davis's jump over David Wesley and his camera during the 2001 contest, Nate Robinson's dunk over 1986 slam dunk champion, Spud Webb, in the 2006 contest, and Gerald Green's dunk over Nate Robinson one year later. In the 1986 contest, Gerald Wilkins jumped over a folding chair while executing a dunk. Terence Stansbury followed with a dunk in the same contest that involved jumping over two spectators, one seated in a chair and the other kneeling to his left. According to Stansbury, the kneeling spectator was his brother. Sometimes, a "human prop" isn't a player, but a celebrity. Examples of this are Chase Budinger's dunk over P. Diddy (while Budinger was dressed as Woody Harrelson's character from White Men Can't Jump) and Jeremy Evans' dunk over comedian Kevin Hart (who was dressed as a mail carrier, after delivering a Karl Malone jersey to Evans), both of which are from the 2012 contest.
• Slam dunks during contests can also involve the ball being tossed off a prop. Most times the ball will be tossed off the backboard, or the floor. However in the 2005 NBA Slam Dunk contest, Amar'e Stoudemire tossed the ball off the backboard, then off teammate Steve Nash's head before being dunked by Amar'e.

• Michael Jordan, Jason Richardson, and Nate Robinson are the only players to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest back-to-back.

• Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Brent Barry are the only players to have won an NBA championship and a slam dunk championship. Jordan was the first (he won his slam dunk championship in 1987 and 1988 and won his NBA championships 1991–1993 and 1996–1998). Kobe won his Slam Dunk Championship in 1997 and his NBA championships in 2000–2002, 2009, and 2010. Brent Barry won his slam dunk championship in 1996 and his NBA championships in 2005 and 2007.

• Kobe Bryant is the youngest player to win the slam dunk championship at the age of 18, a record he still holds.

• At 5'7", Spud Webb is the shortest player to win the NBA slam dunk contest (Nate Robinson was 5'9).

• The showdown between Dominique Wilkins and eventual champion Michael Jordan in the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest is widely considered to be the best slam dunk contest ever. Famous dunks during their epic showdown include Wilkins's off-the-glass, one-handed tomahawk, Jordan's reverse double pump, Wilkins's trademark windmill, and Jordan's immortal double-clutch, free throw line dunk.

• Because of the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, many people have named Vince Carter as the greatest dunker of all-time. His dunks of a 360-windmill, 180 behind the backboard windmill, between the legs (with assist from his cousin and then teammate Tracy McGrady), a normal one handed dunk that ended with Vince hanging from the rim with his elbow, and a 13.5 feet two handed dunk have awed spectators to date.

• Historically, the dunk contest drew some mild criticisms. One of those includes how the dunk contest is extremely limited as there are only so many times one can be impressed with a 360 dunk or a slightly modified windmill. Because of the physical limitations of the human body, innovation can become dry very quickly. But the 2005 NBA Slam Dunk Competition proved that there is room for innovation, especially using props. Another criticism is that players who often compete in these contests are seen as dunkers only (with the obvious exceptions of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Julius Erving), which is why notable high flying athletes like Shawn Marion have sometimes refused to participate. High profile players such as Dwyane Wade have also declined to participate citing it as an unnecessary risk to injury. In the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Tracy McGrady injured his wrist while performing a dunk. Also in the 1995 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Tony Dumas hurt his knee while performing his "Texas twister" dunk. Although a longtime critic, LeBron James said he would perform in the 2010 slam dunk contest. This decision was made after watching the 2009 dunk contest when Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson went at it. However, he withdrew his statement once the All-star weekend came around.

• Nate Robinson is the only player to win the contest three times.

• The 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Competition between Nate Robinson and Andre Iguodala was the first time ever that the competition had to go into a sudden-death dunk-off. However, this contest drew many criticisms because players were not penalized for missing a dunk attempt. Consequently, Robinson attempted a single dunk 14 times before completing it. Prior to the 2007 competition, the NBA changed a few rules to prevent excessive dunk attempts. Each participant has two minutes to complete their dunk. At the end of the two minutes allotted, they then have their number of dunk attempts limited to two.
• In 1996 Greg Minor, of the Boston Celtics, received the lowest individual score for a single dunk, with a 2.0 for a missed first attempt.

• Free throw line dunks during the slam dunk contest have only been done by Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Brent Barry, Scottie Pippen, Josh Smith, Ralph Sampson, Serge Ibaka, Dwight Howard and Vince Carter.