The 25 Best Facial Dunks in NBA History

The best kind of poster.

By 
Dec 12, 2012
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Complex Original

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Image via Complex Original

The 2012-13 NBA season is in full swing (yes a full 82 games, none of that 66-game B.S.), which means, new poster material. Any athletic baller can pull off a sick solo dunk on the break, but laying the hammer down on a defender in full flight is in a whole different atmosphere. The stare downs, the mean mugs, the eventual meme of the day after; there's nothing like dunking on somebody and the ensuing reaction. 

Starks on Jordan, Pippen on Ewing, Carter on Mourning, are some of those classic NBA moments that we're still talking about years later. Check out who else made the list of the 25 Best Facial Dunks in NBA History. 

*As implied in the title, all of these dunks occurred during NBA games. So, unfortunately Vince Carter's "Dunk of Death" from the 2000 Olympics was not included.

RELATED: The 10 Best Poster Dunk on Big Men in NBA History

25. Amar'e Emasculates Jeff Foster

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Date: 11/5/2008
Victim(s): Jeff Foster

Oh the days when Amar'e banged on scrub centers instead of fire extinguishers. Foster's--American for emasculation.

24. Harrison Barnes Takes Nikola Pekovic's Soul

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Date: 11/24/2012
Victim(s): Nikola Pekovic

Every now and then, a European basketball player sacrifices himself to end up on the receiving end of an incredible posterization. Weis, Mozgov and now... Pekovic.

23. Taj Gibson Shows D-Wade How It Feels to Be on a Poster

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Date: 5/15/2011
Victim(s): Dwyane Wade

Gibson never had the chance to properly tell Wade how upset he was that Dwyane didn't join the Bulls in Chicago. Watch the entire video for a second vicious slam that might be even more ridiculous than the first.

22. LeBron Makes Damon Jones a Human Step Stool

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Date: 2/2/2005
Victim(s): Damon Jones

King me? Not quite, Damon. But he did put the crown jewels on ya.

21. Shaq Hits The Admiral with the All-Star Facial

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Date: 2/11/1996
Victim(s): David Robinson

The video quality is ridiculous but this is the only footage on the Interwebs has something like video quality ever stopped you from watching a facial? Ayo! After Army brat Shaq blew up his spot, The Admiral's dinghy sprung a leak.

20. T-Mac Doesn't Like Shawn Bradley's Face

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Date: 4/25/2005
Victim(s): Shawn Bradley

Tracy is so repulsed by the faces Shawn Bradley makes he shoves it out the way to get to the rim. We miss this T-Mac.

19. Shawn Kemp Stunts on Chris Gatling

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Date: 4/28/1992
Victim(s): Chris Gatling


You know a dunk is awe inspiring when the guy who gets posterized daps you up.

18. Shaq Attacks Kelvin Cato

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Date: 4/24/1998
Victim(s): Kelvin Cato


Cato must have been on suicide watch after this one, 'cause nobody who wants to live steps in front of a full-speed Diesel.

17. Baron Davis Throws It Down on AK-47

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Date: 5/11/2007
Victim(s): Andre Kirilenko

Back when B-Diddy could still get up there before his legs crumpled like a pretzel. 

16. Kobe Gives Superman the Kryptonite

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Date: 11/12/2004
Victim(s): Dwight Howard

Superman, there's a Black Mamba on your shoulder! Oh no, that's just Kobe sexing your ear. We wonder if Kobe ever brings this up to Dwight now that they're teammates.

15. Kevin Durant Puts the Hurt on Brendan Haywood

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Date: 5/19/2011
Victim(s): Brendan Haywood

It's crazy how comfortable Haywood looked just staying still and taking it on the chin. Hmm.

14. Kurt Rambis Proves White Men Can Jump...on Occasion

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Date: 6/8/1982
Victim(s): Darryl Dawkins

After all the posterizations by black players on white dudes, Kurt Rambis exacts revenge by dunking on the best to ever do it, and the best trash talk you got is "take that, large person?!" #cmonfam

13. Shawn Kemp Sons Alton Lister

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Date: 4/30/1992
Victim(s): Alton Lister

After a sonning like that, Kemp should add Lister's mom to his monthly child support payments.

12. Dwyane Wade Says "I'll Show You to do this Son"

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Date: 11/12/2009
Victim(s): Anderson Varejao

The way Wade put Varejao's legs up, you'd think he was Gabrielle Union. Hey, the hair would've fooled us, too.

11. Blake Griffin Welcomes Timofey Mozgov to the NBA

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Date: 11/20/2010
Victim(s): Timofey Mozgov

Shaq once asked Kobe to tell him how his ass tastes. Griffin slightly altered that question for Timofey Mozgov.

10. Julius Erving Cuffs and Stuffs Over Michael Cooper

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Date: 1/5/1983
Victim(s): Michael Cooper

Cooper won an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. It was not for this. First time Dr. J pulled off the Cradle Dunk in-game—Defensive Player of the Year who?

9. Blake Griffin "Mozgovs" Kendrick Perkins

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Date: 1/30/2012
Victim(s): Kendrick Perkins

Perk had the "Why did I just do that face" after that facial. These girls can relate.

8. Corey Brewer Kicks Derek Fisher to the Curb

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Date: 12/11/2009
Victim(s): Derek Fisher


The look on Fisher's face is priceless and Jonny Flynn turned into Smokey. You got knocked the fuck out!


7. Kevin Johnson Posterizes The Dream

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Date: 5/15/1994

Victim(s): Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem's Dream just turned into a nightmare, like when Scar-Jo whips a thick one out on us.

6. Charles Barkley Takes It In the Face Three Times

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Date: 1990
Victim(s): Charles Barkley

Sir Charles? At 0:40, MJ treats him like the court jester. Ye of the inferior hops, amuse us on your posterior!

5. Dr. J Takes It Coast to Coast and Finishes Over Bill Walton

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Date: 6/5/1977
Victim(s): Bill Walton

The Big Redhead should've known better than to go up against Dr.J on a dunk. Now Walton is just another face (a Hall of Fame face but still) on a Dr. J poster. We bet he never did that again. #lessonlearned

4. Vince Carter Makes Zo Look Small

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Date: 1/5/2008
Victim(s): Alonzo Mourning

Once VC saw Zo coming, his eyes lit up like it was Christmas because he knew a poster was coming. Not only did Carter out jump Mourning, but bodying him in the air was straight disrespectful.

3. Michael Jordan Shows Why He's Called "His Airness"

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Date: 4/30/1991
Victim(s): Patrick Ewing


Of all the times MJ shitted on Ewing, this one was the absolute worst. Spinning baseline out of the trap and going over Ewing's flat top to lay the hammer down, is one of the most remembered moments in Bulls-Knicks history. The look Jordan gave Ewing after? Priceless.

2. Patrick Ewing Loses His Manhood

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Date: 5/20/1994
Victim(s): Patrick Ewing

First you get dunked on, then pushed to the ground, and made to assume the position, Patrick got his manhood taken away that night. To be on your back looking up to another man's nuts, it gets no worse than that. Not that we know anything about that type of situation. Ayo!

1. John Starks Becomes KONY

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Date: 5/25/1993
Victim(s): Horace Grant and Michael Jordan

"The Dunk" is really something special. Taking place in the world's most famous arena, up against the team that knocked you out of the playoffs two years straight, John Starks did the unthinkable. Not only did Starks dunk with his off hand, he posterized Horace Grant, and the GOAT Michael Jeffrey Jordan in the most recognized poster ever.

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