MUST-SEE TV: The 15 most iconic dunks of NBA All-Star Saturday

The NBA Dunk Contest has been a show-stopping staple of All-Star Weekend since 1984, when Larry Nance toppled slam masters Julius Erving, Darrell Griffith, Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins in the inaugural competition.

For more than 35 seasons, the dunk contest has undergone many changes – some good and some hard to digest. Such as …

a) No eventual dunk champion should be allowed to register double-digit missed attempts in the same round.

b) NBA fans could do without the slam dunk shot clock.

c) The 1997 dunk contest in Cleveland (the only one I’ve seen in person) might have been the worst showcase of, uh, dunking talent. Ever.

However, through it all, we still press on, in search of the picture–perfect dunk – if such a thing exists.

BATSBY Sports offers its YouTube-friendly picks for the 15 most iconic slams in dunk contest history, an NBA-focused countdown that comes with one caveat:

There’s a three-dunk limit, per competitor … otherwise known as The Zach LaVine Rule.

NOTE: Technically, Dr. J didn’t make this countdown (it’s hard to be an elite dunker in your mid-30s). However, it would be utterly foolish here, if we didn’t recognize two special occurrences: