Iconic Warriors Dunk Tournament: #5 Barnes on Pekovic vs #12 Barnes on Mozgov

Prediction: Black Falcon will win

Most Iconic Warriors Dunk Tournament

The question is simple: What is the most iconic Warriors dunk?

To settle this extremely important matter, we will have a straight single elimination bracket tournament. You might say, wait isn’t this just an excuse to rewatch fantastic dunks? Of course not, this is purely for science.

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DNHQ commenters nominated a number of dunks. I filtered out 16 based on whether I could find an official NBA or ESPN YouTube video about the play. The reasoning is simple: How iconic can a play be if it doesn’t have its own video?

I considered determining the seeding using the same strategy as NCAA March Madness Committees — “pulling it out of my butt” — but I opted to seed the plays based on the number of views the official video had. Humans must make the final decision. Humans like you.

I suggest for this very scientific process that you carefully view each dunk and put the volume on loud.

#5 Barnes on Pekovic

#12 Barnes on Mozgov

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Vote

To vote, you can use the Substack poll here or write a comment including exactly one hashtag #FIVE or #TWELVE. Comment votes with explanation are worth 10 poll votes.

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Results of Last Vote

Last vote:

• 26% — #6 Bogut on Javale (16% poll, 28% comments)

• 71% — #11 Klay's first dunk back (67% poll, 72% comments)

The people have spoken and Klay’s return dunk advances with a decisive victory. However, a respectable showing by Bogut’s posterizing.

I had the pleasure of being live for Klay’s return, and it was a delightfully electric night. I’ve never heard so much cheering for layups in pregame warmups. That dunk was the big memorable exclamation mark on a historic night.

Iconic Warriors Dunk Tournament comments…

For science

• bloophero (9 ♡):

  This is like choosing which of my children is my favourite. I. JUST. CAN'T (they're all little douche bags). :)

• fzwinter (6 ♡):

  #ELEVEN

  Never vote against #11. Once that dunk hit the bottom of the net, the OG was back and the chip was in reach.

• DrumRollGyro (5 ♡):

  #SIX - getting disrespected because of it’s age

  1. The extremely rare phenomenon of athletic giant-on-giant crime (not just one giant dunking and another one being kind of close and beginning to contest but pulling away midway) This is some clash of the titans shit, two golems meeting in mid air. Fucking awesome.

  2. The insanely violent loudness of the whoop from the crowd (literally peak Roman Empire style crazy crowd of Roaracle) and do you hear that dunk itself? Anyone watching without sound or on low volume - go turn it up… it’s insane that rim didn’t break or anything.

  3. Just how surreal it was to see the Dubs in the playoffs at that time and that feeing of “holy shit are they gonna win this series” … it’s like a coming of age first kiss or something … just can’t be beat.

• Being (5 ♡):

  Although you say you used YouTube views to determine seeding. You clearly didn't and rigged the seeding so that Klay's dunk would be #11.

  #ELEVEN

• Backpack23 (5 ♡):

  I appreciate you trying to make this competitive EA, but this is all Klay.

• Goofus (4 ♡):

  This is the first one that’s really tough for me. Klay’s dunk certainly has recency on its side, not to mention the emotional moment for Klay, the team and so many of us fans. I can totally see why it’s winning and I have no argument against your choice.

  That said, I think I’ve got a good argument for #SIX. As I said before, my thinking is always going to skew toward how important the moment was. I think Bogut is becoming a forgotten cog in the Warriors engine that drove the ascension. Dude was a beast who established a new physical identity at GSW and had a big part in Draymond turning into the greatest defender of the era. This series didn’t result in a championship, but it was a springboard that lead to a dynasty.

  Perhaps most importantly, Bogut’s stare down and scowl is awesome on its own, but an all-timer when we remember the context. In Game 1 of the series, JaVale completely destroyed Bogut on a posterizer, flicked him away and Bogut fell, then put on a celebration that let everyone in the world know what a bad man he was.

• Bogut was answering in kind with his dunk.

• inkatouring (4 ♡):

  #SIX but jesus is this one is difficult. Like @bloophero, why are you making me pick my favorite child?

  I went with 6 simply because Andre and JaVale were on the other team and that series got us Andre, creating the dynasty and JaVale, who is/was a fan (and my) favorite. And it was unselfish plays like that that did it! Plus, Bogut. Offense. Agility. Soaring. Who would believe it?

  But the Klay dunk is a boy-is-he-back moment. And that is pretty iconic. If Klay had played the season--or just the playoffs--like pre-injury Klay, that dunk would have gotten the nod from me, but he didn't. Not that it's fair to ask that after 2 years off rehabbing. But basketball is a harsh mistress and fair isn't part of the equation......

• Mr.Plow (3 ♡):

  #ELEVEN

  The Bogues dunk was objectively better, but Klay having the audacity to do that IMMEDIATELY off 2 years of rehab has clouded all objectivity from my mind.

• The Bratch (3 ♡):

  I vote #ELEVEN for the sheer emotional release of it. This had to be one of the most cathartic basketball plays I've ever seen.

  Plus, the fact that JaVale became a dub later takes a little shine off of Bogut's dunk, though it was inarguably glorious when it initially happened.

• DubPHan (3 ♡):

  #ELEVEN without question. McGee was late on the contest and really had no chance against Bogut. Klay's dunk was outta nowhere after his injury, a glorious eruption of defiance against the odds. The snarl was the perfect finale, the Steph-dance the perfect celebration.

• belilaugh (3 ♡):

  #SIX, because it was revenge for this and I took first round playoff series a lot more seriously back then since the Warriors were not favored to win:

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