Why Lebron’s dunk was better than Blake Griffin’s monster slam dunk

It’s a debate kids in the schoolyard are talking about. So I thought, why not take a side here? As an NBA junkie, both dunks this past week were spectacular, but one was better than the other.

The two dunks over the past few days of NBA action have sent shockwaves through the league.  The first came courtesy of LeBron James, who jumped OVER John Lucas of the Chicago Bulls to finish an alley-oop from Dwyane Wade.  The second came from the outstretched arm of Blake Griffin, who took possession of every aspect of Kendrick Perkins’ manhood through the legal process of posterization.  They were both epic.  They both blew up Twitter, your Facebook feed and your brain.  You will see them both on “Top 10” lists at season’s end.  Griffin’s dunk seems to be getting all of the hype, but it was LeBron’s dunk that impressed this writer so much more.

To start, LeBron got a raw deal in this competition.  First off, Mike Breen blew the call.  Breen is amazing, I am honored to have him as the Knicks play-by-play commentator, and him and Jeff Van Gundy are my favorite announcing tandem in sports right now (along with Gus Johnson and whomever Gus Johnson is sitting next to), but he blew it.  He didn’t notice LeBron jumped over Lucas the first time through, only caught it on the replay.  There is no doubt that this took away from the moment.  A scream of: “OOOHH!  HE JUMPED CLEAR OVER LUCAS! WOW!” would have been nice.  But the biggest factor in LeBron’s slam getting overshadowed was the game itself.  It was a down-to-the-wire thriller between the best two teams in the East, in a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, and, to top it off, the league’s defending MVP choked to blow the game.  There was no way LeBron’s first quarter dunk was going to get the headlines it deserved after all of that.

Griffin, on the other hand, had everything lined up perfectly for him.  It came off of an assist from Chris Paul (everyone’s favorite Clipper tandem), and it happened in a semi-blowout, so there were no other major storylines (though, let’s not forget the Clippers played great against a damn good OKC team).  He also got fouled on the play, so everyone got to absorb it as play stopped, and the Clipper’s announcers had the national broadcast, so they got loud with a nice “OH ME OH MY”.  Griffin also completely embarrassed Kendrick Perkins, the ultimate gritty-tough guy defender, who has a full foot and 100 pounds on Lebron’s tiny victim.

So how can I say LeBron’s dunk was better?

He jumped clear over another human being to finish an alley-oop, that’s how.  I have NEVER seen that in a live NBA-game situation (I say that with all due respect to Vince Carter, who dunked over a 7-footer without an alley-oop in the Olympics).  I saw Blake Griffin do that same dunk last year on Timofey Mozgov, though he definitely added an extra shot of power this time around.  Plenty of dunks end with powerful finishes right in players faces.  A player jumping over another to finish an alley-oop?  That is something you only see in dunk contests.

LeBron’s amazing display of athleticism and ingenuity takes first prize in this fictional dunk contest, while Griffin’s behemoth power slam finishes just a hair behind.  Both were amazing.  Both had me screaming and jumping out of my seat.  And I’m sure of this: both will be heard from again.  What did you think?  Was Griffin’s powerful slam better than LeBron’s graceful finish?  Was Wade’s pass too perfect?  Does Griffin’s deserve all of the hype?  Is Timofey Mozgov the happiest man on Earth?