Watch: Michael Jordan with a massive putback dunk after a missed free throw by Scottie Pippen in an iconic video from 1992
Michael Jordan is arguably one of the best NBA players in the history of the league. He is also one of the best dunkers in the competition’s history. Jordan won back-to-back dunk contests in 1987 and 1988, and also had no trouble putting up in-game dunks.
On this day back in 1992, Jordan got a running start from the three-point line. He put back a free throw miss by Scottie Pippen for a dunk. It showed his elite athleticism, which was he and his shoes were named Air Jordan.
OTD in ‘92, Michael Jordan came soaring in for the MASSIVE putback. 😱
(🎥: @NBAHistory) https://t.co/RHg9vRJVHG
Jordan constantly made highlight play dunks, making them a theme almost every night. If you turned on a Chicago Bulls game or went to one, Jordan put on a highlight show pretty much every night.
In the two dunk contests he won, Jordan put on displays that not many athletes could replicate. He was genuinely at another level of athletes to play basketball.
A few other Michael Jordan highlight dunks
Sadly, basketball reference only goes back to 1996 in shoot-type selection. In the four-season when shots were charted, Jordan only had 179 dunks, and dunked the ball .028% of the time.
Shots were only charted near the twilight years of Jordan’s career, from 1996-98 and 2001-03. That was when he was in his mid to late 30s. If this stat had been introduced earlier, Jordan would have had a lot more dunks and a higher percentage of them as well.
Michael Jordan’s Dunk Contest dunks don’t seem real😳😳
https://t.co/c2tqGqXxq4
Nevertheless, Jordan did some of the most memorable dunks in his two NBA dunks contests, which solidified him as one of the best athletes in the league. Since then, his dunk jumping from the free-throw line has been repeated in multiple dunk contests.
Jordan could do it all with 360s, double clutches, windmills and one handlers, sometimes combining them together.
One of Michael Jordan’s favorite poster dunks🔥
https://t.co/6EvgJfRaym
It didn’t matter how you tried to stop him in a game. If Jordan saw an open lane, it would be a highlight.
If you wanted to contest him, there was a high chance you would end up on a poster. Jordan had a fabulous leaping ability, helping him get to the rim. If you managed to stop the dunk, Jordan could still switch with a double-clutch to a lay-up to get his bucket.
Jordan is undeniably one of the best athletes in NBA history. His ability to dunk with or without players around him is why he is on another level.