Best NBA Slam Dunk Contest Winners of All Time
The best to ever bless the rim.
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The Best to Ever Bless the Rim - Since 1984, the Slam Dunk Contest has been a staple of NBA All-Star Weekend. This year's installment, as part of the All-Star Saturday Night festivities, will have Zach LaVine vying to become just the fourth player in the event's history to win the contest back to back. The other three? Michael Jordan (1987-88), Jason Richardson (2002-03) and Nate Robinson (2009-10). As the anticipation builds for LaVine to once again glide and defy gravity, BET.com took liberty to look back at the best Slam Dunk Contest winners of all time. From MJ to the Black Mamba and Vinsanity... these are the best to ever rock the rim. By Mark Lelinwalla(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)
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Dominique Wilkins (1985 and 1990) - Just to keep it 1,000 — if there was no Michael Jordan, NBA fans might be putting Dominique Wilkins in the same GOAT-like light. Listen, 'Nique's nickname wasn't the "Human Highlight Film" for nothing. He put some of those highlights on display, winning the Dunk Contest in 1985 and again in 1990. The former had him edging MJ for the crown with a filthy off-the-backboard, reverse power jam. To this day, 'Nique remains one of the contest's hardest dunkers. (Photo: AP Photo/Doug Atkins)
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Spud Webb (1986) - Going up against his teammate Dominique Wilkins at the time, NBA fans might not have expected much from the 5-foot-7 Spud Webb against the reigning Slam Dunk Contest champ. But those same fans left the 1986 Dunk Contest with a new perspective after Webb skied for a 360-degree dunk and two-handed reverse jam to become the shortest man in NBA history to win the event. Those dunks still look mean today.(Photo: Mike Powell /Allsport)
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Michael Jordan (1987-88) - The style, grace, power and swag were all on full display, when Michael Jordan became the first player ever to win back-to-back Slam Dunk Contest crowns. In 1987 alone, MJ turned in three dunks that became posters on fans' walls, including his rock-the-cradle dunk, lean-in jam and legendary foul-line dunk. Just a slice of MJ's greatness.(Photos from left: AP Photo/Kirthmon Dozier, AP Photo/John Swart)
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Dee Brown (1991) - Part of the allure of the Slam Dunk Contest is witnessing something you've never seen before. Dee Brown delivered just that in 1991 with his infamous no-look dunk, in which he attacked the rim at an angle, while using forearm to cover his eyes, still jamming. Call it the original Dab. (Photo: Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
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Cedric Ceballos (1992) - Call it unoriginal or building on an innovation, but Cedric Ceballos took Dee Brown's no-look dunk the year before and added to it, winning the 1992 Dunk title with a blindfolded jam. He had to be able to see, though, right? (Photo: AP Photo/Bob Jordan)
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Kobe Bryant (1997) - Kobe Bryant was just 18 years old, when he threw down a between-the-legs dunk to be crowned Dunk Contest king in 1997. Young Mamba wouldn't get to defend his title, though, as the NBA temporarily did away with the contest in 1998. One and done for Kobe.(Photo: MATT CAMPBELL/AFP/Getty Images)
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Vince Carter (2000) - Vince Carter straight out delivered four dunks that the world had never seen, lighting the Dunk Contest on fire back in 2000. His pair of reverse 360-degree windmills, an elbow-in-the-rim dunk and a between-the-legs alley-oop off a bounce pass were absolutely mind-blowing. Vinsanity's showing is arguably the most-electrifying Slam Dunk Contest of all time. (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn /Allsport)
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Jason Richardson (2002-03) - Quiet as kept, Jason Richardson might be one of the more underrated Slam Dunk Contest champions to ever participate in the event. Despite winning the contest back-to-back from 2002-03, Richardson never seems to be named alongside the tournament's greats, although he should be. Richardson's off-the-floor, twisting windmill reverse jam in 2002 and his off-the-bounce, between-the-legs, one-handed reverse dunk as an encore were just plain nasty. What made his 2003 contest sweeter was Michael Jordan was one of the judges. (Photos from left: Andy Lyons/Getty Images, Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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Dwight Howard (2008) - Big men have to work extra hard to win the Dunk Contest because often their jams lack the style and flair of a shorter player's. Well, at 6-foot-11, Dwight Howard more than repped for the bigs, slapping a sticker of his smiling self onto the backboard with one dunk and donning Superman's cape for another en route to the super-hero-like performance in 2008. (Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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Nate Robinson (2006, 2009-10) - First time for everything, right? Nate Robinson became the first player in Dunk Contest history to win the event three times, winning the title in 2006, before going back-to-back in 2009-10. His first dunk title had him paying homage to Spud Webb by jumping over him, while his second-winning year had him leaping over his opponent Dwight Howard. To be 5-foot-9 and dunk like that? Sheesh!(Photos from left: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images, Ronald Martinez/Getty Images, Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
