Dwight Howard dunking is definitely an oddity. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dominique Wilkins and Nate Robinson are some names that come to mind when listing the high flyers and superb dunkers.
They are all guards and under 6’8” fast and lightening quick. Along comes Dwight Howard, an athletic powerful behemoth at 6’11’ and 265 lbs. By all accounts a big, a center, the 5. Usually the bigs are ho hum dunkers.
They are so tall there is no need to jump high and there vertical is about 6 inches. Dwight Howard is the exception to the rule. It is abnormal for a human being to possess such outstanding athleticism that gives him the capability to sky the way he does. He possess at vertical leap of 39.5 inches, amazing. It has been argued that Lebron James is a freak of nature when in actuality it is Dwight Howard.
In the 2007 NBA slam-dunk contest Dwight Howard showed the world his ability. Kissing the rim and the sticker on the backboard at 12’6’ took everyone by surprise. He ultimately got screwed by MJ, Dr. J and Dominique and was eliminated in the first round.
Dwight came back for the 2008 slam-dunk contest to avenge his premature exit in 2007. He put together one of the greatest slam-dunk performances in history and won by 78% of the vote. For his 2nd dunk of the first round, he tore of his jersey to reveal a superman shirt and a red cape. He then dunked from just inside the free throw line. As he started to leap the cape began to billow and he was flying, the crowd leapt to its feet in disbelief for that Dwight Howard dunking.
In an interview with insidiehoops.com he said “I really wanted to win this for all the big guys”. The creativity and execution of this dunk was off the charts and catapulted Dwight Howard into the league of great dunkers. The public was treat to another out of this world show in the 2009 slam-dunk contest, which featured a battle for the ages with Nate Robinson.
Nate Robinson dressed in all green wearing green shoes was “Krypotonate” to Dwight Howard’s superman. Nate Robinson won with a spectacular dunk, jumping over the 6’11’ Dwight Howard. It was the year of theatrics and will never be duplicated. He can dunk one-handed, two handed, 360, tomahawk, windmill, reverse, alley oop any other conceivable dunk. He has them all.
His freakish jumping ability gets him so high that he is actually looking down through the rim and has hit his head on the rim on more than one occasion. Dwight Howard is a powerful dunker. His in game dunks are nothing short of ferocious. When he receives the ball low in the paint, watch out.
His speed and agility let him get to the rim fast and throw down on anyone in his way. He takes no enemies and leaves all defenders in his wake. The video montage of his top ten dunks, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJWAWtKYk-M, is a great testament to the superior dunking ability of Dwight Howard.
At 24 years of age there seems to be no ceiling to his talent. As his career progresses he has the potential to be the best big man to play in the NBA. He is more athletic, faster and better leaper than Shaq in his early years.
He has a monster frame that will withstand the rigors of the NBA daily grind. Dwight Howard will be dunking for a long time to come.
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