Have you ever had an encounter with someone that feels a little extra disrespectful?
Maybe it’s the passive-aggressive way they worded an email. Or perhaps they acted like you didn’t know what you were doing while explaining a solution to you.
Whatever the case, it doesn’t feel good.
On the other hand, if you’re the one showing that disrespect? You’re unstoppable. You feel like nothing can bring you down.
And if you deliver something SO GOOD — like, say, a ridiculously impressive slam dunk over someone — it’s okay to go a little wild with the celebration.
Shawn Kemp destroys a man, then adds a point of emphasis
It’s one thing to get dunked on. It’s another to have the soul sapped out of your body.
Back in the mid-90s, Shawn Kemp was perhaps the most athletic player in the entire league. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he could have jumped from the three-point line and still successfully completed a dunk.
During the 1992 playoffs, the Seattle SuperSonics found themselves down by a point to the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter. Kemp said, “don’t worry, I’ll fix this real quick.”
He catches a pass and then barrels to the basket like…well, I guess like a barrel rolling down a hill might. But as far as I know, barrels cannot dunk like this.
Not only does Kemp’s dunk send Alton Lister careening to the floor, Kemp literally double-finger points at his fallen defender. As a YouTube comment notes, in today’s NBA such a move would earn a fine and technical foul for excessive taunting, plus a warning from the league office. And in 2025, that same dunk and taunt would earn life in prison without parole.
The replay shows a tremendous view of Lister getting back up. You can tell he was a broken man and would never again be the same.
Shaq and Chris Dudley exchange pleasantries
During his career, Chris Dudley was listed at 6’11” and 260 pounds. But against Shaquille O’Neal, he looks like a fly on the windshield.
The Big Shaqtus just uses his big ol’ rump, then turns and dunks in a way where he wraps his legs around Dudley. And, for good measure, Shaq adds in a casual shove, sending his opponent to the floor.
Dudley, understandably, is upset.
His reaction to chuck the ball at Shaq and offer a couple of “f-yous” is PHENOMENAL. I’ve never seen anything like it and I hope I never do because that keeps this moment special.
Watch how many people point at Dudley on the ground all at once. They’ve just witnessed something magical and they want to make sure everyone knows it.
Scottie Pippen knocks Patrick Ewing and Spike Lee down a peg
I promise I’m not trying to bash the Knicks too much, but they have been on the receiving end of a few nasty dunks. During the 1994 postseason, Scottie Pippen went on a fastbreak and didn’t stop until he launched over Knicks center Patrick Ewing.
Ewing topples to the floor, the momentum of a large man falling into him too much to bear. Pippen does a lil’ “I can walk anywhere on this court but I choose to walk over you” move, but he’s continuing that walk to the sidelines.
Why? Because famed movie producer and Knicks fan Spike Lee is sitting there. Because the two are friendly, Pippen offers Lee a few words of advice.
Fun fact: This dunk happened in the very last game at Chicago Stadium. The Bulls won this one but lost Game 7, and the Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. The following year, the Bulls moved to the United Center and Chicago Stadium got demolished. Much like all the victims of this list did.
Kirk Snyder goes airborne
First off, I need to apologize to you. I’ve covered the coolest names in NBA history and the funniest nicknames, and not once did I mention perhaps the best moniker the NBA has ever seen: Von Wafer.
Well, I won’t waif on this one. Von Wafer is a great name. It reminds me of Nilla Wafers, and if you stretch your brain a bit you can weave “Vonilla Wafer” into a sentence. That’s beautiful.
Unfortunately for Mr. Wafer, he has a two-fer of rough moments on this play. He misses a three-pointer, and then his teammate Andrew Bynum decides to throw a horrid pass that gets stolen by the Hornets.
Because of his position on the court, Wafer is one of the last lines of defense for the Lakers. He elevates to try and block a shot. Kirk Snyder doesn’t care about any of that.
Snyder, who also has a great name — I could totally see a Jason Bourne villain being named Kirk Snyder — just keeps rising up and slams the ball home.
You may not realize it in real-time, but Snyder jumps OVER Wafer’s head, despite Wafer also giving a strong leap on a block attempt. That’s some serious go-go-gadget boots going on.
Anthony Edwards and Yuta Watanabe in “we all fall down”
This is probably no stretch to say for someone that was a No. 1 pick, but Anthony Edwards is going to be a star in the NBA. He’s got lovely moves on the court, sure, but he’s also given us wonderful postgame fodder, whether it’s being entranced by Irish accents or grabbing an after-game snack.
And Edwards isn’t afraid of big moments, even if it means he’ll get knocked down. Of course, Yuta Watanabe takes the brunt of the pain here, but even after you’ve just demoralized someone, it still hurts to fall on your booty.
The scoreboard operator was particularly blown away by this dunk. They awarded Edwards four points for the jam.
That’s all ’til next time. Thanks for reading!
Joey
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