Check out the full countdown of the NBA's best dunks from last season, starring Kawhi Leonard, Miles Bridges and Ja Morant
Wednesday 1 September 2021 15:59, UK
The NBA off-season is still trudging on. Trade rumours have dwindled (unless you're Ben Simmons) and free-agent signings have all but dried up.
What that means, however, is that there is no better time to look back at the season gone by and relive some of its finest moments. And let's be honest, a lot of them were dunks. So without further ado, here's the full list of the 100 best dunks from the 2020-21 season, which starts out impressively and only gets better from there.
Let's tip off with Darius Bazley throwing it down with style for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Atlanta Hawks. Not a bad opener at all. We even get a rare dunk from the MVP Nikola Jokic in early and the considerably more airborne Zach LaVine, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson and Russell Westbrook make their first appearances on the countdown. You can expect to see plenty more of them as we get closer to the number one spot.
An important note: 'Uncle' Jeff Green, now 34, still means business around the rim. Oh, and look out for the recently-traded Derrick Jones Jr. flying in at 84 with a spectacular one-handed slam.
The number 80 position goes to Karl-Anthony Towns, still quietly going about his dominant business in Minnesota. Elsewhere, to keep the big man theme going, Jaren Jackson Jr. detonates on Rudy Gobert of all people, while we also get a precursor to the 'Valley Oop' - one of the plays of last season - as Jae Crowder throws a delicious lob to Deandre Ayton.
The pair would of course repeat the trick in the dying moments of Game 2 to snatch a last-gasp victory for the Phoenix Suns over the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Finals. We'll see that much further down.
Miami Heat's do-it-all center (and now Olympic gold medallist) Bam Adebayo stretching to drop the hammer over Indiana Pacers All-Star Domantas Sabonis at 71 is arguably the highlight of this section.
Blake Griffin, the former Kia-leaping Slam Dunk champion who did not manage a single dunk for over two years between December 2019 and March 2021 (in part due to Covid wiping out much of the 19-20 season), proves once and for all he can still throw it down at number 60.
You know, just as long as he's wearing a Brooklyn Nets jersey rather than a Detroit Pistons one.
We are also treated to Brook Lopez (yes, Brook Lopez) attacking the rim with vengeance on his mind during Game 6 of the NBA Finals, on the night Giannis dropped 50 points to lead the Bucks to only their second-ever title and first in 50 years.
Turns out Brandon Jennings was right all along: Bucks in six.
Now we're starting to get serious. Giannis, LeBron James, Giannis again, Julius Randle and Kawhi Leonard all leave their mark on the rim as we race through the 30s.
After that, Rui Hachimura crushes one over Anthony Davis at number 28 to leave the Lakers star crumpled beneath the hoop and Lauri Markkanen's evisceration of the Thunder at 25 causes some of the best commentary of the season.
Regular @SkySportsNBA favourites Miles Bridges and Ja Morant also go back-to-back just before we reach the top 20. Human highlight reels, the pair of them.
Into the top 20, where a ridiculous Trae Young to John Collins alley-oop gets things rolling. At 19, Morant goes one further and just throws a pass to himself off the backboard before finishing with a two-hander.
Look out for 'Scary' Terry Rozier living up to his name after exploding over Kevin Durant for the and-one and that man Collins doing the same thing to Joel Embiid. No easy feat, let me tell you.
Bridges is back with a scarcely-believable windmill slam while Leonard also returns to posterise a helpless Maxi Kleber.
At 10 we have the newest star in Los Angeles Russell Westbrook before Morant, yes, him again, soars in for a stunning left-handed oop finish.
Number eight is yet another usual suspect on this countdown, Bridges, with a two-handed tomahawk on the Toronto Raptors.
Following that we have two plays straight from the NBA Finals series between the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks. It's only fitting that the Finals MVP Antetokounmpo is in at number seven with a play we'll be seeing for years to come, before Cameron Johnson quite literally jumps over P.J. Tucker at six.
Five is Zion doing what Zion does best, four is Kawhi following suit and three is, of course, the 'Valley-Oop' we had a feeling we'd be seeing near the top spot.
Bridges, cementing his status as the most electrifying dunker in the league, comes up short at number two despite powering a huge one-hander over the shot-blocking menace that is Clint Capela. If nothing else, that dunk might just have the best accompanying commentary of all 100.
But ultimately the number one spot goes to high-flying Timberwolves rookie Anthony Edwards, whose astounding dunk over Hachimura is a fitting finale to this list.
