Saturday evening, on the floor of the Pacers, Ja Morant atomized poor Indiana player Jalen Smith through a huge dunk. “Best poster of my career,” the Memphis superstar said following the game, but clearly not the first or the last. At only 23 years old, is Morant already one of the best all-time dunkers in the game?
Jalen Smith, Jakob Poeltl, Malik Beasley, Aaron Baynes, Robin Lopez…
Ja Morant’s list of victims continues to grow. Since joining the NBA in 2019, the Grizzlies phenomenon ignites the basketball planet like no other and dropped some of the most violent dunks in years. Little highlights sequence just below to refresh your memory, a word of advice fasten your seatbelts.
The best poster dunks from Ja Morant’s career so far ???????? pic.twitter.com/xdXVGkLqSD
— NBA (@NBA) January 15, 2023
When it comes to posterizing the world, Ja Morant is absolutely ruthless. But Morant is not only poster dunks, it’s also alley-oops from space, tomars of madness in transition, and even… exceptional misses (hello Kevin Love).
Is there a more exciting player than Ja in the NBA today? Not sure, not sure at all. We are talking regarding an absolutely fantastic athlete, capable of climbing mountains despite his “small” height of 1m88. We are talking regarding a phenomenon who has dynamite in his legs, who is in attack mode as soon as he sees an opening towards the basket, who combines power with agility, style, control and creativity, all without ever being afraid of the guy who finds himself on his way.
In short, so many characteristics that are usually found in the best dunkers in history, a category in which we will seriously have to think regarding integrating Ja Morant.
The best dunkers in the history in match
Not sure if there’s ever been a more savage dunk in the history of basketball.
HBD, Shawn Kemp. @SLAMRewind pic.twitter.com/AMcAFXI1ws
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) November 26, 2019
Some of the best dunks from Michael Jordan ???? pic.twitter.com/3kHX4D3MVk
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 14, 2019
Celebrate Julius Erving’s Birthday with some of the best dunks of the Doctor’s career #NBABDAY pic.twitter.com/9tuT6FTK7Y
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) February 22, 2017
✈️ The Glide! Sit back & enjoy Clyde Drexler’s BEST dunks! ???????? #NBA90s pic.twitter.com/YMHQd7b214
— NBA UK (@NBAUK) August 16, 2017
Shaquille O’Neal’ greatest facial dunks of his career ????????
Shaq was abusing the defenders ???? @SHAQ pic.twitter.com/gdrAe26FMS
— Misha Konygin (@gdfactoryclips) February 16, 2021
40 for 40… @KobeBryant‘s BEST 40 DUNKS! #Kobe40 pic.twitter.com/DIWvgkafG8
— NBA (@NBA) August 23, 2018
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Gérard (because Gérard)
Some of J. R Smith’s best dunks ???? pic.twitter.com/Jv3QCIq8VF
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) August 13, 2019
Blake Griffin best 28 dunks!
Circle breaking mode ON ????➡️????➡️????#PacificDivision pic.twitter.com/Jyq57IIAtm
— NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) July 25, 2017
After 12 seasons in the NBA, Gerald Green is RETIRING ????
Never forget he pulled off one of best in-game dunks of ALL-TIME ????
(per @ShamsCharaniavia @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/UB3Zec5vbI
— Overtime (@overtime) October 22, 2021
In honor of Vince Carter taking his talents to Atlanta, we’re throwing it back to some of the best dunks in his 20-year career. pic.twitter.com/Xc2C3UxcKW
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 26, 2018
Where to rank Ja Morant among the best all-time dunkers in match?
The list above is pretty crazy, and even more names might have been added. We think of guys like Zach LaVine and Jason Richardson for example, even if we especially remember the latter for their magnificent performances in Slam Dunk Contests. As a reminder, here we are only talking regarding the best dunkers in a match situationwhich suits Ja Morant well since he still hasn’t participated in the All-Star Weekend dunk contest.
We need Ja in the dunk contest ???????? @spidadmitchell @JaMorant pic.twitter.com/vH0g6I2FU4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 15, 2023
What sets Ja Morant apart from the competition is that he is the smallest player in the lot. None of the dunk freaks listed above is under six feet tall. The fact that Morant unleashes such craziness while being well below the average NBA height (which is around 1.98m) makes his feats all the more incredible, especially in a League that has never been as athletic as it is overall. today. Some elders probably think that Ja would get roughed up in the air if he played in an era like the 80s or 90s where the defenses might be much rougher, we are told that this Morant would pulverize the world at n any era. Today, he pushes the limits that guys like Kevin Johnson, Baron Davis, Steve Francis, Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook (and a few more) pushed before him.
What Ja Morant may be missing today in this debate regarding the best all-time in-game dunkers, that’s an even bigger list of victims. We said it in the intro, he already has a lot of dunks to his credit, but he will still have to continue to expand his collection to strengthen his case. And if he might stuff himself with a few big names in the lot (we have nothing once morest Jalen Smith, but hey, it’s Jalen Smith), that would boost his chances even more in this discussion. That’s good, Morant still has plenty of time since he only has 23 pins at the time of these lines.
While waiting for other follies from him, where do you put the Ja: Top 10? Top 5? Podium? Or is it just too early to tell?
Ja Morant’s latest murder got him into my top 5 favorite in-game dunkers ever. pic.twitter.com/pEDe7bfXnA
— David Astramskas (@redapples) January 15, 2023