The NBA has released its Top 100 Dunks of the 2023-24 season, and in a change from years past but unsurprisingly considering the personnel, the Spurs executed a whopping seven of them. Most of that was thanks to Victor Wembanyama, but even without him, a couple of other Spurs still doubled last year’s tally of just one. (Although it was number four, and somehow fans wanted to debate whether or not it was actually a dunk instead of just enjoy the ranking. *Shrug.)
Note: While the video is only on NBA.com for now (link above), separate videos of each play is provided here, as well as the time stamp if you want to go watch the entire video there.
At #93 (2:26) came Keldon Johnson’s reverse dunk around Brook Lopez in their January thriller against the Bucks that is largely considered a turning point of the season despite being a loss (which, let’s face it, has more to do with Tre Jones finally starting than anything).
At #70 (9:00) comes the first of Wemby’s five dunks in the list, beginning with a spin move and reverse dunk around Jabari Smith of the Houston Rockets. The Spurs winning the lottery over the Rockets (and Wemby’s seemingly satisfied reaction when the Rockets were selected 4th) has revitalized the IH-10 rivalry, and this was just the beginning. (Wemby actually got Smith twice in that game, the ranked one is the second in the video below.)
Next is a more unexpected entry, with Malaki Branham coming in at #61 (11:38) when he posterized LeBron James against the Lakers. Not many players can say they put The King on their poster, and as Sean Elliott said, he’ll be able to tell his grandkids about that one.
It’s all Wemby from here, with four more in the top 25. At #25 itself (22:22) is his soaring dunk over Derrick White and the Celtics, where he amazed the world by taking off from just inside the free throw line and sort of gliding through he air for a smooth dunk with relative ease. This shouldn’t be as easy as Wemby makes it look, and at at least at one point, it was the most viewed play ever across the NBA’s social media platforms (and it may still be).
Soon after at #22 (23:20) is a onehanded dunk starting from outside the paint against the Jazz. Interestingly, this play doesn’t really ring a bell with me (maybe because it was during a blowout loss) and at this point almost seems like “just another Wemby dunk”, but of course, not everyone sees him every game, so some plays may register more with outsiders.
In the top 20, we’re getting back to some more memorable dunks, and at #19 (24:17) is Wemby’s left handed posterization of Drew Eubanks after putting Kevin Durant on skates with a crossover move at the three-point line (revenge for a Durant dunk on the previous play). This was the first game of their mini-series sweep in Phoenix early in the season, and this play helped spark a big comeback for the win.
Last but not least comes at #15 (25:56), when Wemby absolutely demolished Alperen Sengun for the and-one, just adding more fuel to the fire of the IH10 rivalry. My favorite part of the play is Sengun just waiving it off after it happens, because what else can you do? There was nothing he could do about that one. There will be plenty of big battles in future between two of the best young big men in the league.
Again, you can watch the entire video at NBA.com, but if this isn’t enough Spurs dunks for you, the Spurs themselves have you covered.
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