Open Thread & Iconic Warriors Dunk Tournament Round 2: #4 Wiggins on KAT vs #5 Barnes on Pekovic
I predict the winner will be a savage dunk against MIN signaling the awakening of a new Warriors talent
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.
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.
#4 Wiggins on KAT
#5 Barnes on Pekovic
Vote
To vote, you can use the Substack poll here or write a comment including exactly one hashtag #FOUR or #FIVE. Comment votes with explanation are worth 10 poll votes.
Results of Last Vote
The weighted results of last vote.
85% — #1 Baron Davis on Kirilenko (poll 73%, comments 87%)
15% — #16 GP2 on Bane (poll 23%, comments 13%)
From one perspective, #ONE is obviously more iconic. It was the most memorable moment of possibly the only good Warriors month between 1991 and 2013. The moment has so much meaning to people who followed the Warriors then, as expressed so eloquently in other comments. It also stands on its own merits as a spectacular maneuver: a huge dunk on a great defender in a playoff game. It stands out the way a palace on a hill stands out if surrounded by a dark, frustrating, embarrassing and boring valley for miles around.
And yet... viewed another way, it was a garbage time play in a second round gentleman's sweep from 15 years ago.
Over time, icons change.
I was very curious what people here would think of the Baron dunk and the fact that the vote is at 72% against maybe not even GP2's best dunk tells me the times are changing. I can see that someday (maybe in this very tournament! or maybe in a few years), the Baron dunk will be viewed as yes always special, like your first love or first car(?), but a gem from a terrible time. And the real most iconic dunk is going to be something like Wiggins on Doncic. The Baron dunk will always be honored, but in the way people honor footage of the 1975 Warriors championship. Respect, but not as personally meaningful as more recent, more successful, more happy times.
Open thread & Iconic Warriors Dunk…
They ball, we ballot
DFiB (6 ♡):
#1 … context matters, Kirilenko was a great rim protector, We Believe in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in forever, BD rising and hang time… it’ 15 year old, so some may not have really experienced it in real time, but it was sooo electric when it happened. I was so fired up that couldn’t move on with my life for a few hours after that dunk.
DubPHan (5 ♡):
#ONE. GPII's dunk is a thing of beauty, but context is everything. Davis's hammer and chest-baring were the defiant shout of a beleaguered team, city, and fanbase that will live in the memory of every fan who got to see it happen. Defines iconic.
inkatouring (5 ♡):
#ONE with a bullet! Let me start by saying I love the young glove. I love the dunk. It has all the power and beauty of an iconic dunk. And, again, the story of the youngin!
But! But! But!
Baron's dunk is number one for a reason: it is the most iconic Warriors dunk of all time. Let me say that again. THE. MOST. ICONIC. WARRIORS. DUNK. OF. ALL. TIME.
I was at that game. That place went crazy; crazier than I have ever seen Oracle (and I had the pleasure of having seasons tickets through the whole Curry-led run, so I've seen crazy). The decibel meter looks low to me. CRAZY!
And it defined an era. An era of upstarts, punching above their weight.
So, sorry young glove. You get the love. You get the respect. But you don't get this one....
Abaddon (4 ♡):
16 is a really good dunk by a fan-favorite player that will be missed.
#ONE (SPELL IT OUT PEOPLE, not 1) is iconic. The audible "thunk" as the ball is thrown down followed immediately by the primal scream of Mark Davis followed by Hubie Brown's laconic "hello" that is all the better for the contrast and how understated it is, and then Baron Davis with the iconic jersey pull.
Let's be honest, this tournament is just an excuse to review all of the other great dunks before we select this one as the best of all time.
Goofus (3 ♡):
#ONE
I understand recency bias being a thing, but the fact that the other currently has 23% of the poll vote tells me quite a number of fans must not have been around 15 years ago, which makes sense because time marches on, but anyone around at that time knows.
boba_balla (3 ♡):
#ONE without question. EVERYONE knows about Baron's dunk, even non-Warriors fans. I won't be surprised if not every Warriors fan will remember GP2's dunk. Both happened in the playoffs, but Baron's was over a very good defensive player who had much more length than him, and helped provide another spark to all of DubNation after the exciting first round win. I was at the game too and happened to be sitting on the baseline of our hoop. Once I saw him turn that corner and had an opening, I was already on the edge of my seat. AK came over but was too late and BOOM! ROARacle went nuts. Too bad there's not much more to remember about the Utah series =\
#5. Just a better dunk.
How Jordan Poole Saved the Warriors’ Season Before It Even Started | Sports Illustrated: https://www.si.com/.amp/nba/2022/10/17/jordan-poole-warriors-contract-extension-draymond-green