In the NBA, legacies, reputations, and plays are put into lore during the Playoffs. Many of the plays you see on commercials promoting the League happened during the playoffs. During Game 2 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, Paul George did this to Chris Andersen(no nicknames used when that happened to you), and earned his spot on commercials for years to come. That poster-worthy dunk, took social media by storm the moment it happened, as plays like that do in the present day. It led me to think back to some of my other favorite Playoff Posters, and led to my latest installment of "Moments Social Networking Missed".
"Reigned" on his head- Prior to having his career ended because he ballooned to offensive lineman size, Shawn Kemp was the most electrifying athlete in the NBA. He had many legendary dunks, but this one in the 1992 Playoffs over Alton Lister stands as his signature. The "Reignman" destroyed Lister here, then pointed at him in a way that would have surely drawn a tech nowadays. It was a thing of beauty.
"Stark" Contrast- Anyone watching the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals has been introduced to the "trick or treat"(as Reggie Miller puts it) nature of Lance Stephenson's game. John Starks was that guy for the New York Knicks in the 90's. You did not know from one trip up the floor to the next what Starks would do, but when he was playing well it was fun to watch. This dunk on Horace Grant(with Michael Jordan flying in late) with the game on the line the 1993 Playoffs was definitely a treat.
"Oh What A Move By Jordan"- Some plays do not need much description. This dunk from the 1991 Playoffs is one of those. If this was the "My Player" mode on 2K13, MJ would have gotten extra points for scoring on a double move, a highlight play, and getting the and-one. Classic, epic dunk.
"A Bad Dream"- Hakeem Olajuwon was not only one of the best offensive centers ever, he was also a dominant defender. He was a guy that you could not come to the rim with a weak effort, and expect it to be fruitful. Kevin Johnson took that to heart on this trip to the rim in the 1994 Western Conference Finals. This is a dunk that is still shocking to this day.
"Pip's up, Ewing's Down"- The Bulls and Knicks had a very heated rivalry in the early 90's. This violent dunk, followed by true disrespect, then a verbal assault directed at Spike Lee was epitome of that. Scottie Pippen and Patrick Ewing met at the rim, and the rest is history. One of my favorite dunks of all time.
"Bang Like T-Mac"- The line used to start this portion of the blog was spit by Jay-Z two years prior to this dunk. Consider it foreshadowing. This play was all Dirk's fault for giving up the baseline, knowing that habitual poster magnet Shawn Bradley was back there. This was a nasty dunk by Tracy McGrady.
Well, there you have a few playoff dunks that would have shut down Twitter, and Facebook. #RIP would have been a trending topic. Memes would have been made in the days to follow, and eventually there would have been a Jim Ross remix video made. It would have been fun to see how these plays would have been responded to in this era.
Thank you for checking out the latest edition of "Moments Social Networking Missed". Feel free to leave any dunks you can think of in the comment box, or hit me with them on Twitter.
I'm Jimmy L. Wilson, Jr., and I approve this message
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