Who Would Win a Chicago Bulls-Only Dunk Contest?

Imagine a slam dunk contest involving nothing but Chicago Bulls players. Who would you expect to win?

Bulls history is filled with sensational dunkers like Michael Jordan, Artis Gilmore and Scottie Pippen—who simply embarrassed Patrick Ewing back in the day.

And, of course, you can’t leave out Orlando Woolridge—the originator of the between-the-legs dunk—Tyson Chandler, Eddie “E-Rob” Robinson and Tyrus Thomas.

While those guys were fun to watch during their time in Chicago, let’s focus on current members of the Bulls.

Since the NBA’s dunk contest will include six participants this year, we’ll go ahead and use four for the All-Bulls competition.

With that said, what four players should participate? Let’s go with this group—Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler, Nate Robinson and Joakim Noah.

Notice how there’s no mention of Derrick Rose. Sure, he’s one of the most spectacular dunkers in Bulls history, but he’s not back to full strength yet following ACL surgery.

Here’s a look at each of the four participants.

Taj Gibson

Gibson is known for providing energy and defense off the bench on a nightly basis. And he’s also known for earth-shattering jams every once in a while.

During Game 1 of the 2011 Eastern Conference finals, Gibson came up with a pair of unbelievable dunks versus the Miami Heat. Check out the video here.

The first one was a posterizaion of Dwyane Wade, as Gibson basically flew over the Miami superstar on a three-on-one fastbreak. And the other was a thunderous one-handed putback in the final seconds, which forced the United Center crowd to instantly erupt.

The putback had TNT announcer Reggie Miller shouting "I have been to the mountain-top and back!"

Maybe in this Bulls-only dunk contest, Gibson could talk D-Wade into letting him posterize him once again.  Not sure if Wade would go for that, though.

 

Jimmy Butler

Butler, the second-year forward out of Marquette, might be the best dunker out of the four participants. He has pulled off a handful of fantastic slams this season for Chicago.  

During a game in January, Butler must’ve been hyped to play the Michael Jordan-owned Charlotte Bobcats. As he slammed it home, Butler stuck out his tongue like MJ always did back in his playing days.

Butler could certainly win the contest. However, it’s unclear whether he’d perform a tongue wag in any of his dunk attempts.                                                                

 

Nate Robinson

Robinson certainly knows a thing or two about dunk contests. He’s the only player in NBA history to win three contests, taking home the crown in 2006, 2009 and 2010. So with that said, not including him would be rather pointless.

In the ’09 contest, Robinson leaped over 6’11” center Dwight Howard. That’s a rather impressive feat for a 5’9” guy, wouldn’t you say?

Although Robinson doesn’t jam much these days, he would still have a great chance at winning the Bulls’ dunkfest. He obviously has a ton of experience and knows what it takes to win the fans over.

Joakim Noah

Noah has done it all this season. He has recorded a triple-double, produced a 30-point, 20-rebound game and even made his first career All-Star team. He might as well participate in a dunk contest, too.

Believe it or not, Noah could very well win due to his unique personality. There’s no telling what kind of tricks he’d have up his sleeve. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if he came out blindfolded while jumping off a trampoline.

And it’s possible he would attempt a dunk wearing his goofy looking draft-night suit.    

Hey, you never know.

 

Winner

Robinson comes away victorious in this one, edging Butler in the final round. There’s no way in the world “Nate the Great” would allow himself to lose. He’s a three-time dunk champion for crying out loud.    

No doubt about it, this would be a rather interesting dunk contest.  

Who would you pick to win?