#2: The KJ Dunk over Hakeem
We stay with monster dunks for #2 in the top five. This time, we add a little more wow-factor not necessarily because of the dominance of the dunk itself, but because of who was involved.
Oh, and this gets bonus points because it happened in the playoffs. In the 1994 playoffs, 6’1″ Kevin Johnson drove baseline where 7-feet tall Hakeem Olajuwon, one of the best shot blockers in NBA history, was waiting.
"“I went up, he went up, we both going up, and he started going down, and I was still going up, then boom!”"
A point guard barely over 6-feet tall is not supposed to dunk over a 7-footer, especially not a 7-footer who would soon be the NBA Finals MVP that year, and later be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. That just doesn’t happen.
If GIFs were a thing back in 1994, this would have been everywhere.
KJ tells the story of the immediate aftermath:
"“When I was at halfcourt just jumping up and down, I looked up and there was Hakem Olajuwon. He said, ‘Little man, you got me, little man. Real good, little man. Don’t do it again, though, little man.”"
Johnson went on to call it the highlight of his NBA career.