This is not hyperbole or prisoner-of-the-moment conjecture: Miles Bridges on Sunday threw down a dunk that is one of the best in NBA history.
The dunk, executed at the expense of Clint Capella, occurred late in the Charlotte Hornets' eventual loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. It also represented a new personal best for Bridges, who has emerged as one of the NBA's most authoritative dunkers.
Take a look, and good luck not laughing:
Now, we're not ready to say that is the best dunk in NBA history. But we do believe it belongs in the conversation, and just might be the best of the last 15-ish years.
We could spend all day going over the greatest slams in basketball history. But, for the sake of time, let's focus on four of the more highly praised dunks from recent memory.
(Note: We're excluding dunk contest dunks and dunks made during international play. Otherwise, that Vince Carter dunk from 2000 Summer Olympics would end the conversation before it starts.)
(Second note: We recognize the coolness of crazy dunks made on wide-open fastbreaks, but for now we're focusing on posterizations, or at least dunks done with defenders in the vicinity.)
Blake Griffin over Timofey Mozgov (2010) and on Kendrick Perkins (2012)
The "dunk" over Mozgov was neat, but loses many points for not being a real dunk. Throwing the ball into the hoop with authority, but without your fingers actually touching the rim, doesn't count.
However, that slam over Perkins was insane, particularly because Griffin was up against a tall, capable interior defender in Perkins. It probably is the one dunk on this list that we'd put ahead of Bridges.
DeAndre Jordan over Brandon Knight (2013)
This dunk is awesome. There's no way around it. But Bridges dunking over a player like Capella is more impressive than Jordan throwing it down over Knight, a player half his size.
LeBron James on Jason Terry (2013)
Basically, the same argument we made about the Jordan dunk. There's no denying how epic this slam is, but James might as well have been all alone. We still aren't sure even saw Terry.
Giannis Antetokounmpo over Tim Hardaway Jr. (2018)
Antetokounmpo is such a freak that many watch this dunk and say, "Eh, that's not surprising." But we disagree. Jumping over an NBA player for an in-game dunk is just ridiculous.
Ultimately, we rank Bridges' slam just behind the Griffin-Perkins dunk. Bridges gets major credit for dunking with that amount of force over one of the NBA's best defensive big men. The reaction of the Hornets play-by-play announcer also boosts the overall experience.
In closing, enjoy 30 seconds of Bridges dunking like an absolute madman:
