Jericho Sims, the bouncy center selected late in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft, is scheduled to represent the Knicks in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during Saturday night’s festivities of All-Star Weekend. He becomes the 16th Knick to compete in the high-flying spectacle, adding to an already rich history of dazzling dunks.
Here’s a quick rundown of every performance to date, ranked from worst to best:
The Forgettable Finishes
14. Gerald Wilkins, 1987, eighth-place finish out of eight
Wilkins, brother of Dominique, was a solid Knick who had a not-so-solid performance in 1987, finishing tied for last with Tom Chambers. His ‘86 performance was much more memorable. More on that in the next section.
13. Doug Christie, 1996, fifth-place finish out of six
Younger fans may not be aware of the bunnies young Christie had, even participating in the ‘96 competition during his brief stint with the Knicks with Patrick Ewing watching courtside. He finished fifth in a six-player field, but finished all his attempts and had one interesting dunk: a self alley-oop off a backwards soccer kick.
12. James White, 2013, sixth-place finish out of six
White’s appearance had a lot of hype behind it, after he dazzled overseas crowds with some unseen aerial acrobatics before coming over to the big leagues. His first dunk, which earned him a 45, was a near free-throw line jam which was ushered along by an on-hand crew of flight attendants.
THE RESPECTABLE FINISHES
11. John Starks, 1992, fourth-place finish out of seven
Starks had a decent showing, including some sweet reverse slams showing off his bounce and diminutive frame. Of course, who needs the dunk contest when you have the greatest in-game dunk in Knicks history?
10. Gerald Wilkins, 1986, fourth-place finish out of eight
WIlkins had a much better go of it in his first competition, finishing fourth behind Terence Stansbury, his brother Dominique and 5-foot-7 champion Spud Webb.
His ‘86 competition also produced the first 50-point dunk in Knicks’ dunk contest history, in which he cleared a chair from near the free-throw line.
9. Kenny “Sky” Walker, 1990, third-place out of eight
Walker wasn’t able to defend his ‘89 championship, but he reached the semi-finals and pulled off an impressive 360 dunk which earned him a 49.5-point score. More on his ‘89 title in the next section.
8. Nate Robinson, 2007, second-place out of four
Robinson had a couple of clean slams in his first title defense, but struggled to finish his dunks in the final round. He’d lose to a worthy competitor in Gerald Green, one of the game’s most remarkable leapers.
7. Obi Toppin, 2021, second-place out of three
During the truncated 2021 contest, Toppin had a case for first-place but was out-flashed by Anfernee Simons’ kiss-the-rim dunk in the finals. It didn’t help that he stole his first dunk off a YouTube video that went viral days before the contest.
The highlight was his second slam, clearing both Julius Randle and his father, the street basketball legend nicknamed Dunker’s Delight.
6. Dennis Smith Jr., 2019, second-place out of four
Smith lost to Hamidou Diallo in the final round, but he had two of the Knicks’ four 50-point dunks that night, including one where he caught an alley-oop from fellow Fayetteville (N.C.) native J. Cole while rocking Cole’s high school jersey.
His other 50 came on an alley-oop from Stephen Curry while jumping over Dwyane Wade, adding to the legacy of shorter Knick guards displaying their freakish athleticism in this contest.
THE CHAMPIONS
5. Nate Robinson, 2010, first-place out of four
This was Robinson’s third, final and record-breaking dunk contest victory. It certainly wasn’t his best performance, nor the best contest fans have seen in general.
He beat out DeMar DeRozan in the finals, in an outcome determined by live text message voting.
4. Obi Toppin, 2022, first-place out of four
The second time was the charm for Toppin, who shined on all of his attempts. The first was a behind-the-back slam while leaping over somebody, the second a prime Jason Richardson callback eastbay off the glass.
His final dunk, a backboard-tap-eastbay combo, won him his first dunk contest in impressive and creative fashion.
3. Nate Robinson, 2009, first-place out of four
While the 2006 dunk contest was Robinson’s masterclass, his 2009 battle with Dwight Howard, in which he brought out the green Knicks jersey and Kryptonie-slammed over Howard in his Superman garb was perhaps the most iconic dunk we’ve seen from him. Less iconic, and downright dangerous, was his dunk leaping off a crouched-over Wilson Chandler in the first round.
2. Nate Robinson, 2006, first-place out of four
This was an all-time battle between Robinson and Andre Iguodala, one that went into dunk contest overtime in order to be decided. In what became a lasting image of Robinson’s dunking legacy, he pulled Spud Webb, the shortest dunk contest winner, out of the crowd and cleanly leapt over him to steal the show.
1. Kenny ‘Sky’ Walker, 1989, first-place out of eight
Walker’s swagger in his dunk contest victory was on the same level as Dominique and MJ’s a few years earlier. The classic Knicks jersey, the gold chain, the flat top and the 360 dunks added up to an iconic New York basketball timepiece.
Plus, Walker was competing despite his father having passed away a few days prior. He won the contest on Saturday and attended his father’s funeral on Sunday.
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