Ranking LeBron and D-Wade with the Best Alley-Oop Combos in the NBA
I'm not too sure on the history of the alley-oop, but if movies have taught me anything, it's that Jackie Moon, Andre 3000 and the white guy from White Men Can't Jump invented it.
While my history probably needs some fine tuning, I do know that the alley-oop is as entertaining as it gets when it comes to playing basketball. If you're new to the game, it basically involves one player throwing a pass to another player who is in mid-flight. The flying player grabs the ball, while in mid-air, mind you, and promptly dunks it through the orange cylinder.
An alley-oop usually features a point guard throwing it to either a power forward or center, but it's not truly distinguished, as it can be thrown by anyone to anyone. It's just the norm to see it from the best passer on the team to the tallest player. If there isn't a sizable player that can throw down, the team's most athletic player will usually be the recipient.
The alley-oop can be utilized in the traditional half-court setting. However, it's difficult to use as defenders, and team defenses are designed to not allow buckets that easy to be made. Usually, you'll see it being completed in the open court where the pace is quicker, the defenders are lesser and the offense has forward momentum.
In the game, we've found tandems that seem to perform these feats better and more frequently than the average alley-oop duo. What makes it better? The amount of times we see it, how efficient it is and how much English they can put on it.
Let's take a look at the five tandems, and trios, who seem to perform this feat better than any other.
5. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol/Andrew Bynum
1 of 5Tough to choose just one of them.
Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum both make such convincing cases on why they're the primary target in the alley-oop arsenal of the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was easy picking Kobe Bryant, since he's the primary ball handler. Gasol and Bynum were difficult to pick, so we had to go with both of them. After all, how can you distinguish one from the other? They're both seven-footers with arms so long that their knuckles scrape the top of the Staples Center when they go up to retrieve the alley in order to finish the oop.
With Bryant's court vision, he does have it when he feels like passing, and with the twin towers of Los Angeles in the frontcourt, it's becoming a lot more difficult to stop the Lakers than we expected. They're not going to just go away. Having a frontcourt comprised of Gasol and Bynum gives the team an advantage over nearly opponent they face.
They're too strong and too long, which makes it too easy for them to receive alley-oops. Not many other centers and power forwards can combine to deny either player, especially with Bryant out on the perimeter and doing his usual work on the offensive glass. With Bryant taking up so much attention up top, frontcourt defenders will sometimes stray away in order to deny him entry to the middle.
It leads to plays like this that feature Bryant throwing it up to Gasol, Bryant to Bynum and even Gasol setting up Bryant for an alley-oop once in awhile.
Sometimes, however, Kobe likes to throw himself an alley-oop.
4. John Wall and JaVale McGee
2 of 5These two certainly aren't the most popular tandem.
While the duo of John Wall and JaVale McGee have had plenty of memorable aerial hookups, more time has been spent criticizing the ineptitude of the overall framework of their Washington Wizards team. The Wizards were so bad that it already led to the firing of a veteran head coach in Flip Saunders.
Chances are high that it was probably the players' fault and not the coach who has won 638 wins over his career. The level of maturity on the Wizards is incredibly low, and you're sure to be in for a circus-like performance whenever you have the misfortune of watching them. While it can be entertaining to watch these young stars, it's also incredible to see how ridiculous some of their plays are.
Instead of focusing on how bad the Wizards are, which is what everyone has done this season, we'll focus more on the alley-oop tandem of Wall and McGee. It didn't take too long for these two to get acquainted with one another, as Wall's quickness, athleticism and passing ability complemented perfectly with the athleticism and freakishly long arms of McGee.
The point guard has the tough job of getting the pass to the right spot, but McGee makes Wall's job so much easier. Being 7'0" already helps, but having arms as long as McGee's, coupled with so much athleticism, makes life all the more simpler for Wall when he's getting ready to make a highlight play that involves his center.
3. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin/DeAndre Jordan
3 of 5This is what I like to call the go-up-and-get-it crew.
You don't have to pinpoint your passes when you play for the Los Angeles Clippers. As long as you throw the ball somewhat near the basket, the chances are high that either Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan is going to swoop down from the heavens to throw it down.
When the Clippers caught sight of what Griffin and Jordan were capable of doing with a decent point guard in guys like Baron Davis and Mo Williams, the team decided that they had to make a move to keep this thing going. In a rather surprising move by Clipper standards, they made a huge deal by sending out Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and Al-Farouq Aminu for New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul.
CP3 is famous for making his teammates look a lot better than they actually are. We all remember those days in New Orleans when Paul led a team composed of "star" players like Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson to a Southwest Division title and 56 wins. The roster was awful, but Paul made them better because of how well he facilitated the offense.
In fact, take a look at the Hornets now. They're probably not a contender with Paul, but they're certainly not going to be 9-30. Paul can mold a team composed of guys like Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor to the playoffs, which is exactly what he did last season.
Nowadays, Paul is leading the Clippers to what may be their best winning percentage in franchise history. The Clippers can say goodbye to those days of dreariness and depression, as they can only look forward to future success with their All-Star point guard and power forward, as well as their freakishly athletic center.
Luckily for all of us, some generous user decided to throw in a whole bunch of alley-oop hookups from Chris Paul to Blake Griffin in one convenient video.
As for DeAndre Jordan? He can do well with an elite point guard as well.
2. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook
4 of 5Hey, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, these two guys in Oklahoma City would like to have a word with you really quick.
While not quite on the level of the Miami Heat's duo, the Thunder have a duo that could very well give them a run for their money as far as alley-oops, talent and offensive efficiency go. Small forward Kevin Durant and point guard Russell Westbrook have exceeded expectations and then some in the short time they have played together.
So quickly have we forgotten that the Thunder were once a bad team before these guys teamed up in 2008 upon the drafting of Westbrook. Thanks in part to great leadership by coach Scott Brooks, as well as the insane offensive abilities of the duo we are speaking of, the Thunder have gone from cellar dweller to championship contender in the span of three years.
Outside of a pair of skirmishes relating to the leadership role of this team, there haven't been too many on-the-court struggles between the two. Both players have no trouble in getting to the rim or hitting jumpers from within and outside the perimeter. These two have such an easy time playing together because of those consistent jumpers, which forces defenders to play up on them at all times.
When you play up, you give room to drives and alley-oops like this particular one and this one as well.
Of course, we can't forget their wonderful fastbreak slams. These two are just as lethal as any other duo in the league when it comes to running the fastbreak, and it's able to happen because of how well they sync up together in the open court.
As long as these two continue playing at this rate and continue to hook up for dunks like these, there's no reason why we shouldn't expect anything less than an NBA Finals appearance, possibly against the two players that you will see within the next few seconds.
1. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade
5 of 5When the Miami Heat get out into the open court, it's best that you take a seat and marvel at the excellence that is about to ensue.
I'm not trying to sugarcoat this, either. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in the open court is the closest thing next to guaranteed points that you'll ever come across in the NBA. They're too fast, too creative, too strong and too athletic to handle. If it's just Wade and James on the fastbreak against three defenders, it's usually the duo coming out on top.
They work so well because of how perfectly their games complement each other and how well they've established chemistry. They're smart enough basketball players to have learned each other's tendencies and where they like the ball to be placed when going up for alley-oops. For Dwyane Wade, he needs a specific place. LeBron James can basically go up and get it, however.
The alley-oop isn't just purely for entertainment either. It's actually won them games, as seen in their game winner against the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier in the year when LeBron James threw a perfect alley-oop to Dwyane Wade off the inbounds.
Mostly, however, it's for entertainment. Of course, it happens to be an easy way for these to score also, but you know these two obviously want to put on a show when they get the opportunity. They recognize their athletic abilities and their ability to find each other, so they find ways to pull off alley-oops that we may have never even seen before.
They do it in the NBA Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals, the semifinals, on opening day, in the Bay Area, at Madison Square Garden, in their first ever regular season home game, against the Eastern Conference's best and even against some of the Western Conference's worst.
It doesn't matter who they're playing against or where they're playing, the chances are likely that you're going to see Dwyane Wade and LeBron James do what they do best at least once.
