NBA Rankings: Blake Griffin and the Top 15 Dunkers in the League Today

It's not quite Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, and Clyde Drexler, but it doesn't mean the NBA has tapped the well of high-flying, acrobatic, and dynamic players who know how to rock a rim and blow the roof off of a stadium. Even with some of the best dunkers in the game known only in the history books or from grainy Youtube footage, we're still fortunate enough to experience some of the best dunkers in the league today and in it's history.

As sad as it might be to watch some of the games top dunkers from only a few years ago in Jason Richardson, Vince Carter, and Kobe Bryant fade away into dunking obscurity from being known as the league's top high-flyers, there will always be a new class of young athletic freaks to widen our eyes and drop our jaws for that generation of the NBA.

With the type of players they have playing for the Los Angeles Clippers or north of the border in Canada, we have no need to worry about which players could possibly replace the three players mentioned before. The new crop of above the rim athletes have already stunned and shocked us with what they're capable of during a dunk contest or even in a regulation NBA game. With all the hype surrounding the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers coming into the season, we almost forgot that there were other reasons to watch basketball.

Reasons like this or this or even this keep every NBA fan waiting on the edge of their seats just to see what these athletes are capable of next. Even in games where deficits appear to be insurmountable, it's these highlight plays that always keep us watching until the final buzzer goes off. One of the best reasons to watch basketball over any other sport is that it's the only league where some ridiculous play that had never been seen before is capable at any given moment in any game.

Each of these 15 players has probably already done that once or twice before.  

15. Nick Young

Not sure who Nick Young is? I suggest you start watching some Washington Wizards basketball then because the team has another future All-Star on their hands not named John Wall. With only four years of basketball under his belt, Young is averaging a career high 18 points per game for a Wizards team that could use as much entertainment as it can get. At 16-48, Young has been one of the few bright spots for Washington in a season that they'd like to forget.

He also had the best dunk on LeBron James to date. Maybe that's why James only goes for chase down blocks.

14. JaVale McGee

As spectacular as he was in the dunk contest, JaVale McGee has the unfair advantage of having arms equivalent to Stretch Armstrong. Either way, McGee has some serious hops for a 7' footer and gave Blake Griffin a serious run for his money in this past dunk contest as well proving that Dwight Howard might not be the only center to win a dunk contest title in the near future.

This however might be something he'd like to forget. We'll just say he canceled it out when he dunked on the Chicago Bulls. Honestly, what was Kyle Korver thinking?

13. Eric Gordon

Those Los Angeles Clippers kids sure do know how to dunk, right? If they can transition that talent to getting some wins instead, maybe they can make Los Angeles a relevant team outside of ESPN's top 10 and other highlight reels. In only his third year in the league, Eric Gordon is among the leading scorers with a career high 24 points per game with career highs of four assists and three rebounds to go along with the increase in points.

Aside from the high scoring output, Gordon has made a name for himself with dunks like this and even ones that are game changers.

12. Josh Smith

One of the best high-flyers in the leagues history, Josh Smith has made a name for himself solely by how high he can jump. At only 6'9", his freakish athleticism allows him to be one of the league's top shot blockers as well as one of the league's top dunkers.

Among his dunks of the year include this smash on Joel Anthony. I'm not sure what Josh Smith has against the country of Canada either.

11. Dwyane Wade

It's tought to put Dwyane Wade this low on the list because he's easily the most entertaining player to watch in the NBA when the Miami Heat are playing, but there are actually ten players more impressive at dunking then him. Wade has made a career out of proving that impossible is nothing and has done so multiple time this year with his new teammates sharing the spot light for a change.

Turns out he's not the only one to beat up on the Cleveland Cavaliers either.

10. Derrick Rose

It should be against the laws of nature for someone that's 6'3" to dunk this viciously in the open court or on the head of some unsuspecting defender. Derrick Rose however has proven time and again that he is more for breaking the laws of physics then obeying them. If you don't believe so, then ask Goran Dragic what he thinks about Rose's hops and absurd vertical leaps.

The fact that he's probably the second fastest player in the NBA only makes it even scarier to see a Derrick Rose with momentum charging towards you.

9. Gerald Wallace

Probably not the wisest of moves for the Charlotte Bobcats to move their best player for numerous players that aren't near the talent level of Gerald Wallace. Considering he was the teams franchise player and was averaging 16 points and eight rebounds per game before he left, it only makes the Bobcats faithful scratch their heads and wonder why the 'Cats would let go of one of the top athletes in the game for the likes of Sean Marks, Dante Cunningham, Joel Pryzbilla, and a few draft picks.

I'm sure Portland has no trouble watching this guy perform the same theatrics off the bench.

8. LeBron James

When you're the most gifted athlete possibly in the history of the sporting world, the chances were high that you'd end up on a top ten list sooner or later. In this case, LeBron James makes the top ten dunkers in the league today with ease just for the open court heroics and the high flying alley-oops he pulls off on a nightly basis. Even in his first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers, we knew that something about this kid made him a little more talented than anyone else.

As for some of his best dunks with the Miami Heat so far, the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks already know all too well what he is capable of with his new team.

7. Russell Westbrook

I'm not sure what's getting into today's NBA point guards, but don't they know that they shouldn't be the ones doing the posterizing? Guards like Derrick Rose and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook have added a completely new dimension and aspect to playing the point guard spot by becoming the high-flying dunking specialists on their team.

Westbrook has easily become one of the league's top dunking point guards as he unleashes his fury with some of the cleanest dunks of the season. No one 6'3" should be doing that and getting away with it.

6. Shannon Brown

Try not to remember him as the dunk contest bust, but instead for his in-game dunks where he is really able to show off his absurd vertical leap and ability to dunk over anyone small or tall. His open court dunks are by far his most impressive as it sometimes appears that he gets some sort of second boost while in mid-air. For example, look what he does here to the New York Knicks and to the Boston Celtics.

He's so good at dunking that he even unleashes it on his own teammates.  

5. Rudy Gay

It's a shame that Rudy Gay's been injured for the past month because we can only wonder just what he could have done since that left shoulder injury on February 15th delayed any sort of progress for him and his rising Memphis Grizzlies. Either way, we have already been left with enough higlight's to tide us until then. In only his fifth year in the league, Gay has proven that he can be the leader of his team as well as a few possible All-Star game nods in the future.

As long as Luis Scola keeps getting in his way, the Grizzlies have nothing to worry about when he makes his triumphant return.

4. DeMar DeRozan

Another member of the great 2011 Dunk Contest heist where he among others were robbed of a victory, DeMar DeRozan has already proven himself as one of the league's top dunkers in only his second year as a member of the NBA and the Toronto Raptors. DeRozan has given the Raptors faithful a few reasons to smile despite losing their franchise player over the off season and currently standing at 18-48. Not only that, but he has stated that he won't do the Raptors ala Vince Carter.

I have reason to believe that the city of Toronto could get used to this kid attempting to put Toronto on the map once again.

3. Blake Griffin

He's only played 67 games and is coming off of a serious knee injury and yet Blake Griffin is easily one of the league's top dunkers. In fact, he is a few more posters away from becoming the best in the league and one of the best of all time. With a dunk contest title already added to his resume, Griffin and his 22 points and 12 rebounds per game have given the Clippers hope that they do have a future with two of the top dunkers and players in the organization.

His brother Taylor could learn a few things.

2. J.R. Smith

Don't call him Earl or else he'll do this to your team. After seven years in the league, J.R. Smith has made a name for himself not only as one of the league's most dangerous and volatile three-point shooters, but also as one of the league's top dunkers. His behind the back dunk in his first dunk contest remains as one of the top in the contest's history.

It's easy not to like Smith considering that he can kill your team with his lethal three-point shooting and it makes it even harder to like him when your name is Gary Neal.

1. Andre Iguodala

Andre Iguodala might be at the center of trade rumors every year and may be having a drop off year averaging only 14 points and six rebounds, he still finds himself leading his team to the post season after missing it last season and averaging a career high six assists. However, when it comes to throwing it down and energizing a crowd, no one in the league today does it quite as sweet as Andre Iguodala. He can do it with such ease that you can't even push him away from the basket.

It's tough to put up just one of Iggy's dunks, so instead just observe 100 of his top dunks and see just why he deserves the number one spot among the league's top dunkers.