The 50 Best Nike Dunks Of All Time
5. Nike x Pharrell Williams Dunk High
YEAR OF RELEASE: 2004
• Fans of N.E.R.D and Hypebeasts (can we call people Hypebeasts before that site started?) creamed their skinny jeans waiting in line for Skateboard P’s dunks. Hype aside, they’re sick, and if you have a pair on ice, you’ll be good even if your 401k is lookin’ lean.
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4. Nike Dunk (Original 7 School Colorways)
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1985
• These aren’t #1, well, just because. They’re hot, and getting one’s hands on an original pair is impressive, but there’s three more that are better. Back in 1985, collegiate basketball powerhouses UNLV, Kentucky, St. Johns, Syracuse, Arizona, Michigan, and Iowa got to match their shoes to warm-ups, t-shirts and their uniforms. Georgetown wanted it’s own, and pushed for a Terminator in Hoyas colors. The Dunk program moved from there, and produced the freshest on-court kicks the NCAA had ever seen. After the sneakers took an archive nap, Nike resurrected the silhouette and gave it the vintage treatment 20 years later.
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3. Nike Sportswear x Dave’s Quality Meats Dunk Hi
YEAR OF RELEASE: 2008
• Dave & Co. embraced tone on tone colorways and created a fully perf-ed nubuck Dunk in three sick colorways (Cave Purple, Ice Green, Industrial Blue), and one shop only black version. It’s the first Nike release for sale to the general public with a shop logo, an interesting little factoid for sneakerheads (all others w logos were not retailed). Our favorite part of this drop though? The Complex CSN video that had the Internets going nuts.
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2. Nike Dunk Low Pro B “Smurf”
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1999
• There was a time when there was no Nike SB, when Nike was producing fat-tongued Dunks but wasn’t really sure what to do with them (the building full of cool guy-execs came later). These Nike kicks were blue suede shoes, and you had to cop through a Japanese friend with a nike.co.jp hookup. Things done changed.
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1. Nike Dunk Hi “Wu-Tang Clan”
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1999
• It can be argued that these are simply the original Iowa Goldenrod Dunk colorway with some Wu-Tang embroidery. Actually it doesn’t need to be argued, that’s what these are. But these Dunks take the number one spot for a few reasons. First, they are limited as crap. You can grab them at Flight Club, maybe ($5k+), but not really. At the original drop, releases were rumored at only 36 pairs (plus a few more that Nike dudes made for “sampling”). Second, they’re the Iowa colorway, which is the best of the orignal seven, and the black/yellow has all kind of power undertones behind it. Third, this was the sneaker that started regular Nike’s foray into the world of acknowledging cool. After the Wu-Tang Dunk came Pharrell’s, and then shop Dunks like UNDFTD and Kicks/HI and DQM’s Air Max 90. This was the Dunk that started teh second coming of the sneakerhead, and it’s still the best of the bunch as far as we’re concerned. Wu-Tang forever.
PREVIOUS
COPPED THEM TO ROCK THEM September 7, 2009 at 1:40 am
WHOEVER PUT THIS LIST TOGETHER DOSENT HAVE A CLUE WHAT WAS THE CRITERIA? SHOULD HAVE BEEN 43 WORST AND 7 HOT LIST
King AUbrey October 20, 2009 at 3:09 pm
if you include sb’s i am with alot of sb’s wud merk these n wur r the huf quakes and earth quakes??
ALikeno1 September 7, 2009 at 2:47 am
Good Picks Thanks for putting that together.
lustyman September 7, 2009 at 12:09 pm
where are the melvins?????
TheBrownMaMba September 23, 2009 at 9:52 am
thank you thats wat i said along with the unkles the de la souls and the original FLOMs.
ali September 7, 2009 at 12:56 pm
this is just a dunks list…sb’s are not included!!!
ted September 7, 2009 at 9:07 pm
is this a joke?
this was compiled by someone who spent 2 weeks reading iss, not someone who knows dunks…
B.Payton September 7, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Did I miss something? Where are the Supreme Dunks With the stars? Craziest dunks Ive ever seen. I’d gladly rearrange this list
B.Payton September 7, 2009 at 10:32 pm
De La Souls?
Jon September 8, 2009 at 8:09 am
Horrible list. Where are the Tiffany’s?
JerseyFame September 8, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Where are the MF Dooms? Did I miss something?
I saw some pink polka dot craps and some scribbled crayon catastophes…but no Dooms?
Are the MF Dooms not Dunks?
Prize September 8, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Did anybody even buy 80% of these joints??
zackattack johnson September 8, 2009 at 7:28 pm
what the hell is this. dunks that should be on list tiffanys, what the dunks,mf dooms,de la souls,three pears pack,destroyers (red earths), supreme’s pack, pigeons??!, futuras,sea crystals, dino jr., mork and mindys. the list gos on and on
anonymous September 9, 2009 at 9:26 am
Whoever wrote this list obviously does not know anything about dunks, sneakers, or fashion in general. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll ever be checking any lists by Complex Magazine again.
californiabullshittin September 9, 2009 at 5:32 pm
what about:
de la soul
the pigeon ones
tiffany’s
???
Andrew September 9, 2009 at 7:26 pm
WOW this list is terrible. you can tell whatever idiot at complex decided on this top 50 has NO clue about shoes (probably some typical ass LATE HYPEBEAST) wow “zackattack johnson” you are retarded… 3 bears pack, dino jr… mork and mindy??? are you fucking kidding me?
Andrew September 9, 2009 at 7:30 pm
by the way … when the majority of shoes posted on this piece of crap “top 50 dunks of all time” are mostly from 2008 and later you know something is wrong…
BABYLATIN September 9, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I SEEN ABOUT 7 OR 8 HOT ONES,,,,THE REST R BOOTY
brooklyn1976 September 10, 2009 at 7:02 am
This list is ass i bet the people who pick’d them stated wearing dunks in 2006 lol
fownownah September 11, 2009 at 8:28 am
Yea most are pretty ugly… :S
DPPPP September 13, 2009 at 9:36 am
vvvv Are you guys dumb, this is the “50 best nike dunks” not the “50 best nike dunk sb’s”
mjoeyson September 15, 2009 at 10:31 am
This is stupid. No untiffanies?
kuyang.maneuver September 15, 2009 at 2:37 pm
wow. drooling ~
SBoy! September 15, 2009 at 8:58 pm
whoever puts this list doesn’t know about dunks.. lame ass LIST!! where’s the tiffs, unfuturas, wtd, pigeons, doom, dela soul, unkles.. mo’fo!
Charles September 17, 2009 at 6:30 am
Are you serious? These are the 50 Best?
chocolate September 19, 2009 at 3:10 am
air jordan fusion
CassavaLeaf.com September 20, 2009 at 8:30 pm
sweet list
the truth September 20, 2009 at 10:08 pm
NOTHING FROM BEFORE 2000 I CANT TAKE THIS LIST SERIOUSLY THERE ALL NEW RELEASES MOST ARENT EVEN NICE
Chris September 22, 2009 at 1:58 pm
where are the Osaka’s or the Dinosaur Jr’s…..the scholastic pack (Elmer’s Glue, notebook, crayola)…this list is a fail
Brian September 23, 2009 at 12:07 am
Come on guys. These are lists of DUNKS. NOT SBs. Most of them they listed were general releases and quick strikes. Know ur shit guys.
sam September 23, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I guess this was the non-SB list.
CrossuOUt September 26, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Man , You could only expect this outcome From a Toy Like Marc. Spits on your Face!
CrossuOUt September 26, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Marc is a TOY!
sliz October 19, 2009 at 11:07 pm
WHERE ARE THE DE LA SOULS??
KidddFresh October 26, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Yall are fucking stupid this is dunks not SB’s MORONS STFU KNOW YOUR SHIT
secret November 12, 2009 at 2:43 am
what happen to the coralines & mf dooms!?
rs November 16, 2009 at 8:36 pm
iLLLL!!!
You guys blow November 20, 2009 at 2:49 pm
ITS A FUCKING DUNK LIST, NOT AN SB DUNK LIST.
Learn to read fucking idiots.
king aubrey December 1, 2009 at 1:48 am
no earthquake, no huf quake, what the hell this list is FAKE
THE REIGN December 2, 2009 at 7:49 pm
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Mr Devo aka Canonjon December 15, 2009 at 1:18 am
Wow. You guys seriously over-looked, or seemingly were unaware of the hottest dunks EVER released.
No Pigeons?
De La SBs
San Fransisco Earth quake HUF Lows
What-the-dunks
Egg Plant Dunk Hi’s
Michael Lau Wood SBs
Sea Crystal SBs
Haze Hi’s
Sole Colletcor Las Vegas
Kermits
Tokyo all whites
UNDFTDs
Original Medicom SBs
Supreme (Stars) SBs
?????
I could go on.
By making this list youve made yourselves look silly and damaged any credibility you may have had (Ive never heard of you before and wont be expecting much if I ever hear of you again.)
Do your research, people dont have to agree with you, but completely leaving out some true classics just makes a mockery of your site/mag.
jim December 20, 2009 at 5:54 pm
No Strummer dunks on the list?
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secret January 10, 2010 at 12:25 pm
wheres the sb list? hurry up with it! i wanna see what yall come up with already
miles January 11, 2010 at 8:11 pm
are people on here fucking retarded
its a DUNK list, that means shoes manufactured by nike NOT nike sb
so read before you start bitching and whining about the lack of tiffany’s and flom’s and de la souls because there NIKE SB’s
Jesus Christ
FreshPrince January 23, 2010 at 7:15 pm
whats the value of a new pair of pharrells?
Love my shoes January 29, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I just came across your blog and found myself reading along and I thought I would leave a quick comment. I don’t know what to say honestly except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will be visiting this blog again.
jayeshs February 5, 2010 at 1:56 pm
These are some nice shoes.