LeBron James over John Lucas vs Blake Griffin on Kendrick Perkins
When LeBron's dunk happened, play continued. People in the arena and watching on TV weren't sure if what they'd just seen had actually just happened. LeBron didn't have time to celebrate, he had to get back and play defense. Only later did we get confirmation that the cow had jumped over the moon. Upon further review LeBron jumps clear over a rotating John Lucas who somehow hopes to close off the baseline to a driving James. When Wade lofts the pass high in the air, James goes up and gets it, completely disregarding Lucas' presence below him. Like Vince Carter over Frederic Weis in the Sydney Olympics, or the lesser-known Kirk Snyder over Von Wafer, vaulting over a player is a rare occurrance that should be rightly celebrated. Carter's dunk has become the concensus best dunk of all time, but it didn't happen in NBA action. Sure the seven-foot Weis was at least twelve inches taller than Lucas, but LeBron's dunk was on an alley-oop that he caught with one hand. LeBron didn't even have to spread his legs to hurdle Lucas, simply flicking his legs after already clearing him.
Blake Griffin's dunk caught the world by storm. Perkins has been dummied before, but he's a solid presence in the lane. Perk is listed at 6'10", 270 pounds, and though he's slimmed down he's a far larger opponent than the 5'11", 165 pound John Lucas. As Perkins jumped at Blake with his forearm extended, Blake rose even higher in a dunk that he patented last season over then-Knicks centre Timofey Mozgov. When that initial Mozgov happened, critics debated endlessly about the criteria of a dunk and how much rim a player must grab or how a "downward throwing motion forcing the ball through the hoop" literally defined what a dunk was. Blake at least caught a little bit of rim, grazing it with his fingertips. More than a year after the original, the "Mozgov" has become an accepted form of dunk, patented by Blake Griffin and reinforced on Kendrick Perkins.
We've now learned that "Mozgoving" and "Weising" are verbs that apply to the language of dunk, and both are very impressive for different reasons. Both dunks came in a win against a conference rival. Both are also worth just two points no matter how you look at it, except Blake was fouled by Perkins on his dunk and made the following free-throw for the three-point play.
The crowd's reaction undeniably elevated the Blake Griffin dunk as well as the announcer's exclamation of "Oh me, oh my!" While both LeBron and Blake's dunks happened in their home arena, the Staples Center crowd in Los Angeles had a chance to stand and applaud after the play was stopped for the foul. The crowd at AmericanAirlines Arena didn't get a chance to react and punctuate LeBron's dunk with their reaction, until they got a second look and soaked it all in. DeAndre Jordan wrapping up Blake after the dunk was more noticeable than Wade's grimmace after LeBron's dunk and added teammate excitement to the slam.
While the better of these two impressive slams is subjective and open to debate, LeBron tweeted while watching the Thunder-Clippers game "Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I'm #2 now. Move over #6," conceding defeat.
They are two different dunks that both deserve to be in consideration for best dunk of all time. LeBron's dunk was the best of his career, and Griffin's dunk redefined his highlight formula. Both are worthy of interrupting whatever you're doing at the time and watching in awe while collecting your jaw from the floor. Blake's was more powerful, LeBron's was more unique. While players will be posterized again, and again, and again, dunking OVER a player almost never happens, nevermind on an alley-oop. This time, LeBron comes out on top.
Winner: LeBron James over John Lucas
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