Maybe it was Shaq literally tearing down basketball hoops with violent power. Perhaps, Vince Carter leaping over an opponent, entirely. It could be LeBron James effortlessly hurtling through space from unfathomable distances over and through defenders. Whichever you choose, any fan of basketball has powerful memories tied to the slam dunk. Today, we present you the top 10 definitive Chicago Bulls dunks.
The slam dunk is one of the most exciting plays in basketball, capable of immortalizing a player for their remarkable athleticism or crushing the spirits of a foe on the verge of being vanquished.
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FanSided is simultaneously celebrating the slam dunk and attempting to document the definitive dunks that represent the most exciting play in the sport. Ian Levy, Senior NBA Editor for FanSided, leads the way and is joined by a host of talented and knowledgeable basketball personalities from former player Brent Barry to rookie Marquese Chriss and writers like Ben Golliver of SportsIllustrated.com and FanSided.com Editor-in-chief Jim Cavan are involved with this fun project.
The best part: they want your help! You can go to this link and submit a nomination for your favorite dunk. The submission form will be open for several more days, but don’t wait because the voting will end soon.
This, of course, got me thinking about the 10 definitive Chicago Bulls dunks. The dunk is a really exciting thing and Lord Finesse was definitely talking about me and people like me when he rapped about not being able to touch the backboard.
So, without further ado, let’s get down to business and take a look at the top 10 Bulls dunks.
Next: The Top 10 Dunks
Just Missed the Cut
Yes, there are 10 dunks that we are going to revel in, celebrating the glorious past of the Bulls. There will be a lot of the greatest of all-time, Michael Jordan. To be honest, we could’ve made a top 50 dunks list of just Jordan and it would probably still be better than every other dunk list on the internet.
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In fairness, and for the sake of variety, I wanted to look for dunks that weren’t just the very best. I wanted to find dunks that were definitive. The dunks captured a moment, signaled something or were just plain nasty.
Since it would be impossible to cover everything, I boiled it down to just 10. However, I do want to pay our respects to some of the great dunks that it was very hard to leave off of the list.
Jordan was a human highlight reel. We could go on for days about his breathtaking ability to turn dunks into living art. We won’t, but we could. It would have been impossible to track down or include every jaw-dropping Jordan jam. This dunk, when Jordan powered down a dunk over Dikembe Mutombo – and then produced Mutombo’s signature finger wag – was actually brought to my attention by fellow editor, Michael Whitlow. I had forgotten about this one. May I, and you, never forget again, my friends. I bet Mutombo didn’t forget.
One of our staff writers, Michael Kanoy, submitted this eye-popper from Nate Robinson. If you watch the rest of the video that this clip is from, you’ll notice that Nate Rob was always leaping out of the stadium. It was basically his trademark for years. A particularly undersized player by NBA standards, Robinson unleashed hell on rims all around the league. There is definitely something special about watching a player with what looks to be an average build or physique displaying other-worldly talent. That’s what Nate Rob did regularly.
Another great thing about a posterizing dunk – it can come from anybody. Sure, monster jams from Nick Young or Andrea Bargnani are harder to come by. Thankfully, Kanoy had this one on deck. No need to adjust your computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone screens. That definitely is a Tyrus Thomas highlight. Savor it, it is one of the few in existence. And it is definitely real and totally excellent. That’s what a dunk can do for you – put Tyrus in a “top 10” piece that is dominated by His Airness. Dunks are magical.
Next: No. 10 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 10 – Jimmy Butler
Welcome to the present, and future, of the Chicago Bulls. Jimmy Butler has been kept and Derrick Rose has been traded. Butler’s contract is particularly team friendly due to the rising salary cap and will keep him under the control of Reinsdorf and friends for several seasons.
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Butler started out by creating a reputation as a defensive player, but as he matured so did his ambitions. Jimmy has taken on the challenge of being the primary scorer and occasional primary ball-handler. With Rose injured for extended periods of time on several occasions, Butler has forced himself into a larger role within the Chicago offense.
Really, the dunk is just extremely cool. You started out sitting down while watching, but when Jimmy pulls the trigger you feel the power of his frustration of dealing with Pau Gasol and Rose, his disappointment in his new, laid-back coach. Butler isn’t just sending a statement to the mostly disinterested Ersan Ilyasova, he is putting the hammer down on factions within the Bulls locker room.
Hey, this dunk, and his efforts to assert himself as the centerpiece in Chicago, both worked out well for Butler. This is the kind of thing Bulls fans need to get used to seeing, it’s Jimmy’s time in the Windy City.
Next: No. 9 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 9 – Toni Kukoc
Yes, it is Toni time. The Spider from Split, the Pink Panther, the White Magic, and the Croatian Sensation. If Kukoc did any one thing as marvelously as have the best nicknames, it was playing a supporting role to the greatest Bulls teams of all-time.
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Kukoc was a draft-and-stash player way back in 1990 and didn’t make it to the NBA until after Michael Jordan had retired. Imagine what a bummer that must have been. Of course, Jordan came back and being the borderline psychotic player that he was, drove Kukoc to the limits. That’s what Jordan needed from everyone that he played with throughout his career.
When Jordan returned from retirement, it was still his team. He had reservations about Kukoc and others. This moment in time was crucial for Kukoc. Jordan was back, the Bulls were in the playoffs and Mourning had just put in a sweet hook. The Croatian Sensation put his mark on the game, stuffing one in past Mourning. Big playoff moments like this were instrumental in solidifying the role players that surrounding Jordan and fellow all-time great, Scottie Pippen.
The style points for this dunk are quite high, but the true masterpiece is how Kukoc senses the moment. The crowd is amped, it’s a first-round playoff matchup and the Bulls are on the verge of running away with it. Mourning temporarily dulls the moment and then the Pink Panther strikes. Chicago was dominant in the 90s, but it was still fun because guys like Kukoc understood the moments they found themselves in. They understood theater. They had the confidence to cut to the rim from the wing and slam the ball on Zo.
Next: No. 8 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 8 – Joakim Noah
Joakim Noah isn’t a Chicago Bull. That still hasn’t completely sunk in for a lot of Bulls fans. Each day it becomes a little more real as more stories come out about the things that Noah says and does, as a Knick. This is the reality we all now share, a reality of a Noah-less Chicago.
All U Can Heat
Bulls fans still love Noah. They will continue to love him until the first time he incites a Rajon Rondo technical foul call from the bench. Before he eagerly goads Bobby Portis isn’t losing his cool. Before he does all the things that Noah does, now to Chicago instead of for them.
I don’t choose to think of Noah that way. I choose not to remember Noah as the guy who spent the end of his tenure with the Bulls on the bench in a suit looking bored out of his mind, mentally checking off the days until he could bolt in free agency. I choose to remember the young, brash Noah. I choose to remember a Noah that had not yet perfected the tight man bun.
I choose to remember the Noah that could get out in transition, run the floor and finish a contact dunk for the and-one opportunity. Talk about a rare sight. There will probably never be a time where we see Noah lead a fast break and beat every other player down the floor to finish a dunk. This is a definitive Bulls dunk. It was the mettle of a young Bulls team, fighting with confidence and fire to establish themselves as a true contender in the Eastern Conference.
Next: No. 7 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 7 – Michael Jordan
I could see this dunk a thousand times and not get sick of it. This is one of the most iconic movements that Jordan incorporated into his flashy moments where he suspended in mid-air, tormenting hapless opponents.
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Jordan always seemed to show out against the Knicks and this dunk was no exception. This is art. It is a beautiful dunk that even now while writing I cannot stop watching. The most incredible part of this dunk is that it came in MJ’s very first game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Think about that for a second. Very first game in MSG.
It explains a lot about how Jordan had a series of defining moments against the Knicks, particularly in MSG. This was the first shot in a long line of iconic moments at the expense of the Knicks and their fans. At least they didn’t seem to mind it. Listen to the crowd in the audio from this dunk. The place was live. New York was a basketball mecca and as they say, real recognizes real.
This isn’t the only time that the Knicks show up on this list, unfortunately. However, this is a particularly defining moment as the Air Jordan movement was just taking off. Many more poster moments would come afterward, but this was the sending of the message.
Next: No. 6 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 6 – Michael Jordan
I know this is shocking, but Jordan is going to show up frequently on this list. In case you missed it earlier – he is the greatest basketball player of all-time. This is my biased opinion and you cannot change it.
Jordan might never have become an irresistible force and global phenomenon if he had wilted under the pressure of teams that were far better than his in the early years of his career. The Lakers and Celtics were the driving forces of the NBA despite Jordan cradle-dunking all life on earth. His scoring abilities and Slam Dunk Contest spectacles weren’t going to be enough to compete alone against the greats. And then a division and conference foe rose to the top and attempted to beat Jordan into submission.
The Bad Boys era of the Detroit Pistons won back-to-back championships, frustrating Jordan for several years. Chicago was on the verge of greatness, but couldn’t get through Detroit. The scary thing for the league was that the Pistons were at the peak of their abilities while Jordan was just warming up.
Though this dunk didn’t herald that the end was here for Detroit, it was a definitive marker that the end was near. Despite always beating down Jordan and trying to physically intimidate him, they could only hold off MJ for so long and his athleticism eventually broke free, as did the Bulls.
Next: No. 5 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 5 – Michael Jordan
Bonus round: you get two dunks in this highlight clip. The first is great, but we are here for the second.
Hoops Habit
First of all, poor Alonzo Mourning. Zo has already showed up once before in our list and now he’s back again. This dunk actually took place earlier, chronologically, than the Kukoc slam from earlier.
While the dunk itself is a demonstration of explosive power, this is about pure emotion. Jordan was a master of demonstrating emotion. Most of the time, it was nuanced. The right moment, the right physical response. Jordan was always perfectly weighted in how he carried himself on the court. When it was time to lean on Scottie, he leaned on Scottie. When it was time to shrug, it was time to shrug. Even his finger wave at Mutombo was a simple gesture that carried enough weight to warrant a 2000-word blog post.
So, when Jordan chooses to erupt in emotion, you take note. It doesn’t seem like much in the modern NBA, or modern sports in general. If you watch more than 17 seconds of American football, you’re bound to see at least three players run 30 yards further than necessary, launching approximately 22 percent of their protective gear into the air. A well-timed 3-pointer in the modern NBA devolves into the pre-judging phase of the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition.
It’s all fun, but it’s all commonplace in modern sport. This was different and it made the actual slam dunk that much more powerful.
If that wasn’t your cut of tea, this Jordan dunk against Charlotte was actually much more savage. However, it doesn’t have the power of emotion that you get from the dunk on our friend Zo. Seriously, you need to watch that dunk about 20 times right now.
Next: No. 4 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 4 – Derrick Rose
The Rose saga has taken a sad turn thanks to injuries and other events that are currently unfolding outside the world of basketball. Before all of that, he was an absolutely terrifying dunker. If you Google it, you can come up with a handful of alley-oop lobs that Rose absolutely annihilates. Those days are likely gone forever, just like our lament about Noah.
This is both a joyful and painful remembrance for Bulls fans. Rose was the best thing to happen to the Bulls since the days of Jordan and Pippen. Until he was the worst thing to happen to himself. His body was capable of such ferocious athleticism that it didn’t seem possible. I’d compare him to one of my favorite baseball pitchers of the past decade – Tim Lincecum.
They were both capable of incredible feats and ascended to the peak of their sport at relatively young ages, but the way in which the played their games caused their bodies to betray them earlier than most. For Lincecum, particularly unique pitching mechanics were unsustainable and his arm simply couldn’t handle the torque any longer.
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Rose had an incredibly aggressive, explosive, dangerous style of attack on the court. Eventually, the measures put in place to protect his injury-susceptible ankles forced his knees to compensate, and then they no longer could do so.
The Bulls pushed the Big Three of the Miami Heat. They pushed them very hard. Rose captured exactly what that threat looked like when he exploded to the rim for an and-one dunk. That was another time and place. In the video Tom Thibodeau looks like a younger man more so than the Transylvanian overlord that now roams freely in the wilds of Minnesota winter (I assume it is always winter in Minnesota).
To be honest, I actually wanted to use this dunk on Greg Oden more than the dunk against Miami. Rose is the definitive post-Jordan Bull. He was supposed to lead the team and their legion of fans back to the promised land. Oden was supposed to be the next great big man. Both had different career trajectories, different stories. Both lost the battle against their own bodies. That was a time of potential, when the Bulls and Blazers both thought they had something sustainable.
Next: No. 3 All-Time Dunk
No. 3 – Michael Jordan
The only note I wrote down for this dunk reads, “Lord have mercy.” I think that about sums it up.
Really, just look at the reaction and facial expression of Hubert Davis. That man knows he’s just seen it all. In that moment, every person in Madison Square Garden saw their lifetimes, their death and all of their hopes and dreams. They realized that it all was for nothing. Everything they held in their hearts could never measure up to what they witnessed that day.
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Poor John Starks. Poor Charles Oakley. Poor Patrick Ewing. They probably aren’t bad people and they definitely didn’t deserve to be immortalized in this way. But most of all, poor Hubert Davis. That looks is one of pure trauma. The realization that as a lifelong competitor, you are witnessing a being that operates on another level. You also completely understand that you will never be able to overcome that higher power, that being.
Do you know what happened to Davis after this game? He retired, eventually. Think about that. At some point after that dunk, every player on that court retired.
It is unconfirmed, but I’m pretty sure that exact moment was the first time that Dementor was seen in New York City. I’m not saying that MJ is a Dementor, I’m just saying that I’m not prepared to say he isn’t after what I just watched in the video.
Next: No. 2 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 2 – Scottie Pippen
Okay, I might not be sure about MJ, but Scottie Pippen is definitely a Dementor. He’s giving Patrick Ewing the business. I’m not sure there is a great comparison for a current player that matches up to what Ewing was back in the day, but he got done.
Pippen treated Ewing the way I would expect LeBron to treat Lou Amundson. Except, Pippen is a great comp for LeBron and Ewing is a legend while Amundson still struggles figuring out what his hairstyle should be.
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Seriously, LeBron did this exact some nastiness, though not after a dunk, to Draymond Green and managed to get him suspended. Pippen knows he just got nasty, too. He takes a victory lap and then heads over to the ref casually before engaging in laughter. Let me tell you what, no chance I ever smile after Ewing falls over in any context. Not if I’m on the same court. Forget it. Pippen just stuck one on him and let it be known.
He also let Spike Lee know. I love that Spike loves basketball. I love that Spike loves the Knicks. I also love when Pippen or Scottie or whoever else lets Spike know what time it is.
There isn’t a sweeter in-game dunk than what I just watched in that clip. Pippen put it down on Ewing, then gave him the business, then gave the business to Spike Lee, then gets a technical, then laughs about it and gets high-fives from teammates. One other thing – it was a playoff game. That’s how you know Pippen is a bad man. He gets a technical for ethering a dude he just dunked on in a playoff game and no one is even a little upset with him.
Next: No. 1 All-Time Bulls Dunk
No. 1 – Michael Jordan
The FanSided Definitive Dunk project is only for in-game dunks, but I live my life free of such oppressive rules. I present to you the single most definitive, iconic dunk in the history of all basketball. We’re spoiled to be Bulls fans, because this is everything.
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This isn’t the most definitive dunk for on-court reasons.
As professional basketball evolves, so do the ways in which players make a living and choose their loyalties. In 2016, the biggest storyline isn’t the on-court rivalry between Steph Curry and LeBron James. The big story is how Nike let Curry slip away and now his Under Armor signature sneaker is hacking away at the Nike market share.
It isn’t just those two players, nearly every player in the league has some type of brand affiliation that makes them money above their standard playing contract.
Michael Jordan wasn’t necessarily the first, but he was, and is, the greatest. The Jordan Brand, born out of Nike, has become a self-sustaining giant. Jordan dwarfs his career basketball earnings in a single year as the head of the most iconic signature sneaker line in the history of sports.
The legend of the Air Jordan may pre-date The Dunk, but it was everything. Celtics fans may remember some very special, iconic moments with Larry Bird. Lakers fans will always have the Showtime Lakers. For every highlight play that those teams produced, nothing rings universally like The Dunk.