Iconic Warriors Dunks Tournament Overview
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Iconic Warriors Dunks Tournament Overview
they throw it down, we vote it up
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.
Each headline is a link to the original voting threads with dunk videos. The “Results” links to the article that discussed vote results and highlight some DNHQ comments.
Sweet Sixteen
#8 Dray to Steph to KD vs #9 J Rich Dunk Contest
80% - #8 Draymond long pass to Steph mid-air alley oop to KD
15% - #9 Jason Richardson Dunk Contest, 2002 and 2003
5% - I don’t know
#8 moves on to the next round!
My emotional memory of the alley-oop (so possibly not supported by chronology) was that the Super Villians were still getting their footing at the time. They had been clobbered on opening night and then Steph looked out of sorts trying to Fit In around KD. They were winning but didn’t have the multiplicative magic between KD and Steph yet. This play was one of the first sublime moments of cooperation and hint that they could all be great together, not just in parallel.
As for J Rich’s dunk contests… it is hard to appreciate in the Curry era (when the Warriors have so many successes that some people can complain with a straight face about winning a title not in the exact way they wanted), but the two decades between Webber leaving and Steph coming back from the ankle injury, those were pretty bare times with very few high points. Two of the top were We Believe and the J Rich dunk contests, possibly the only two victories on a national stage in that slog of a time. And those were some really sweet dunks.
#7 Wiggins on Doncic vs #10 Wiggins on Clarke
97% - #7 Wiggins on Doncic
3% - #10 Wiggins on Clarke
#7 moves on with a landslide victory, but with much love and appreciation for #10 which, with a different bracket, might have gone further in the tournament.
That Clarke dunk was massive, against the biggest threat to GSW, against a more obnoxious team, against a better defender in better position, in a closer game and made a grittier, louder sound.
But the Luka dunk had the flop, the foul, the review and reversal. It was against the star and soul of the other team and just FELT like it ended the whole series. And I’m guessing now and in the future if you say, “remember that Wiggins dunk in the playoffs”, this is what people think of.
In fact we are not done with the Wiggins dunks in the tournament, and he made them all in an 8 month span…
#6 Bogut on Javale vs #11 Klay's first dunk back
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.
#5 Barnes on Pekovic vs #12 Barnes on Mozgov
83.5% — #5 Barnes on Pekovic
13.7% — #12 Barnes on Mozgov
#5 moves on. The poll was very close (52% for Pekovic) but the comments were a landslide victory.
I prefer the Mozgov dunk for importance (pivotal moment in the pivotal Finals game), skill (tough to maneuver around the two contesting defenders) and degree of difficulty (set defenders).
But, the Pekovic poster is just plain more famous and provokes awe regardless of context. It was a dunk that announced that Barnes was no ordinary rookie and he could play an important role in the playoffs right away (which he did) and could blossom into a star (which he never did but still).
I couldn’t help noticing a certain respectful indifference to these dunks. It’s funny how time has cooled feelings about Harrison Barnes either way. It used to be an instant argument in Dub Nation to say his name while he was with the team.
#4 Wiggins on KAT vs #13 Jordan Bell self-alley-oop
93% — #4 Wiggins on KAT
6% — #13 Jordan Bell self-alley-oop
I fudged the rules with this round. I could not actually find a proper NBA or ESPN video just about the Wiggins on KAT dunk. But given that Steph and others have referred specifically to the KAT dunk, and Steph said he texts Wiggs this video every day to get him pumped up, I had to include it.
#3 Steph on Lowry vs #14 Webber on Barkley
38% — #3 Steph on Lowry (poll 36%, comments 39%)
59% — #14 Webber on Barkley (poll 54%, comments 61%)
#14 pulls off the upset!
I learned long ago that the key to maximum social media clicks is to put “Steph” and “dunk“ in the same title. And it’s funny to think that the Big Three of Steph, Klay and Dray all bring a bit of drama when they dunk: will they make it? I also suspect the coaching staff told Steph to stop trying to dunk because it’s just not worth it compared to the injury risk.
As for the Webber dunk. A legendary dunk in my favorite basketball commercial. The other drama of Webber leaving and even having Barkley going HAM against GSW in revenge for the commercial… that all makes it all the more an iconic dunk for me.
I also fudged the rules with #14, as I couldn’t find an official NBA/ESPN video about the Webber dunk. But I figure it counts that Nike made one of the greatest ads in history about that dunk.
#2 Barnes reverse on Randolph vs #15 Juan Toscano-Anderson on JaVale
21% — #2 Barnes reverse on Randolph (poll 16%, comments 23%)
77% — #15 JTA dunk on Javale (poll 77%, comments 77%)
Another upset!
You all know I have been one of JTA’s biggest fans. JTA’s dunk has the advantage of recency and more violence and being part of the long journey to a treasured title.
Barnes’s dunk was in a bigger game, more elegant and more difficult. So I would vote for #TWO. But it was also the loud announcement of Barnes’s rookie promise which he never fulfilled to everyone’s maximum hopes.
The guy played an important role in a title and 73 wins and after he left I don’t think he’s ever said anything negative about GSW or given Dub Nation reason to hate him (for instance by playing up to a max contract for another team, or playing particularly well against us). Yet, after Barnes’s departure, absence has NOT made the heart grow fonder.
(FYI Harrison got 62% in the old system HWFL vote.)
I believe this filters into today’s evaluation of his highlights, which — for that time — were among the biggest plays we had.
Today’s Dub Nation has spoken loud and clear, and JTA’s dunk moves on!
#1 Baron on Kirilenko vs #16 Gary Payton II on Bane
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 loss in a 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.
Elite Eight
#4 Wiggins on KAT vs #5 Barnes on Pekovic
43% — #4 Wiggins on KAT (poll 65%, comments 35%)
54% — #5 Barnes on Pekovic (poll 28%, comments 65%)
The unusual close split vote! The poll broke clearly for Wiggins but the comments broke for Barnes. There were a notable number of votes saying “I like Wiggins better but I’m going to vote up a different Wiggins dunk and give Barnes a little credit here.”
#14 Webber on Barkley vs #11 Klay's first dunk back
31% — #14 Webber on Barkley (poll 27%, comments 32%)
66% — #11 Klay's first dunk back (poll 58%, comments 68%)
#15 JTA dunk on JaVale vs #7 Wiggins on Doncic
1% — #15 JTA dunk on JaVale (poll 5%, comments 0%)
97% — #7 Wiggins on Doncic (poll 87%, comments 100%)
No disrespect to JTA’s fabulous dunk, which basically got him into the All-Star Dunk Contest, but the Wiggins Dunk was just way too iconic.
#1 Baron on Kirilenko vs #8 Dray to Steph to KD alley-oop
22% — #8 Dray to Steph to KD alley-oop (poll 25%, comments 20%)
77% — #1 Baron on Kirilenko (poll 71%, comments 80%)
Easy win by the presumptive favorite, but not as solid a win as you’d expect. I think the favorite is vulnerable in the finals…
The Final Four
#1 Baron on Kirilenko
#5 Barnes on Pekovic
#7 Wiggins on Doncic
#11 Klay's first dunk back