NBA Slam Dunk Contest Winner's Highlights: 2000-2012

There have been some incredibly creative dunks in this millennium in the dunk contest. Check out the highlights of the past winners-

2000 (Oakland) – Vince Carter, Toronto Raptors

This was probably the most memorable slam dunk contest ever. Vinsanity’s insane dunks brought the house down like no other player had ever, or has ever since.

2001 (Washington, D.C.) – Desmond Mason, Seattle SuperSonics

Desmond who? Although he isn’t in the league right now, the 6″5 guard was quite a high flier in his heydays.

2002 (Philadelphia) – Jason Richardson, Golden State Warriors

J-Rich is still in the league, not flying around as much, but back in the day his dunks were the stuff of legend.

2003 (Atlanta) – Jason Richardson, Golden State Warriors

As I said, the stuff of legend. J-Rich repeated as the champion the following year.

2004 (Los Angeles) – Fred Jones, Indiana Pacers

Fred Jones prevented J-Rich from repeating, even though both Jones and Richardon missed their final dunk attempt.

2005 (Denver) – Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks

Although Josh Smith won this one with two perfect 50s in the final, we remember this contest just as much for the Birdman, Chris Anderson. The only bird he resembled was a dodo. He needed eight attempts to complete a dunk.

2006 (Houston) – Nate Robinson, New York Knicks

The little man, 5″9 Nate Robinson won this one. But in my opinion, he got little man points. He missed a bunch of attempts and Andre Iguodala‘s dunks were a lot more sicker.

2007 (Las Vegas) – Gerald Green, Boston Celtics

Gerald Green is still flying all over the court in the NBA. Check out the dunk where he jumped over tiny Nate.

2008 (New Orleans) – Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic

Superman takes flight. Dwight and Shaq have had parallel careers in some aspects. Both played for the Orlando Magic before jumping ship for the Lakers, and both are nicknamed Superman. With his Superman dunk in the dunk contest, Howard solidified his nickname. Howard became the tallest winner of the dunk contest at 6″11.

2009 (Phoenix) – Nate Robinson, New York Knicks

And here’s where Nate Robinson exhibited creativity in making the Superman persona work against Howard. Nate put on neon clothing to turn himself into Krypto-Nate and become the fifth two time winner of the dunk contest. If it was Kobe instead of Howard, he would probably have flat out refused to shoot himself in the foot by becoming a prop.

2010 (Dallas) – Nate Robinson, New York Knicks

The only three time winner in the dunk contest history, Robinson narrowly edged DeMar DeRozen with 51% of the votes to win this one.

2011 (Los Angeles) – Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers

“Nothing is going to beat that, unless I bring a plane out or something.”- said McGee.

The best dunker in basketball today and the only one to dunk over a car in the dunk contest, Blake Griffin took this one home in emphatic fashion. Props to JaVale McGee for the amazing two rim dunk.

2012 (Orlando) – Jeremy Evans, Utah Jazz

FPS gamers would have delighted in the dunk by Jeremy Evans where he gave us a first person view of a dunk with a eye camera.