Ode to One of the Greatest Dunks in NBA History
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I want to take some time today to talk about one of the greatest dunks I have ever seen.
Last night the Spurs and Thunder played game two of the Western Conference Finals. Two games in this has already been an epic series. I hope it goes the full seven games and each team plays their damn hearts out. Game one was one of the best basketball games I’ve ever seen. It had everything one could want as a basketball fan. It went back and forth, went to double overtime, had one of the best three's made I've ever witnessed and was just simple and pure joy for all basketball fans' eyeballs. Last night's game wasn't as epic, but it was still a good game that went down to the wire, for the most part. But we were still gifted an amazing play that will live in my head rent free forever.
I'm not fully sure when it occurred in the game, but there was a moment that Stephon Castle took Isaiah Hartenstein's body and soul on an in-game dunk. The Spurs set a few ball screens for Castle that left the middle of the lane open. Now, for the casual fan that may not know much about Steph Castle yet, he wants to attack. The three point shot was open, but if you give Castle a runway, he is going to absolutely go for it. This is one of the many reasons I have already become a Castle fan. This kid is not scared of anyone, plays the game with a cerebral attitude, makes silly mistakes but I give those a pass, and just goes for it. He is still young and still has incredible bounce. He is all about using what suits his game best, and that is an easy fan to get my fandom. And that is exactly what he did last night. I know the Spurs didn't win the game, and I do think OKC may have figured something out last night, but this play was one of the many reasons the rest of the NBA should be very afraid of what the Spurs are currently building. When Castle saw that he had this open lane, he didn't get cute or try to wait for a three point shooter to get open, he attacked. He saw that there was only going to be one player playing defense in the post, Hartenstein, and I'm sure he knew in his mind's eye that he could attack. Castle took the ball, took a few hard dribbles and elevated. He looked like he was going to jump out of the damn gym. It looked like he was going to stay floating in the air forever. Hartenstein, and I give him credit, slid over and looked to attempt to block the dunk, or maybe draw a charge. Once Hartenstein decided to try and block the shot, that meant he was about to end up on a poster and become a viral meme. Again, I give him credit for not backing away, but man oh man did Castle try to end his NBA career right then and there. As Castle started to jump, he also cocked the ball back. This was when we all knew he was going to attempt an all time dunk. As Castle cocked the ball back you could see that Hartenstein wasn't going to be able to meet him at the rim. Either he mistimed his jump or just simply couldn't get high enough to get his fingertips on the ball. As Castle started the dunk we all knew he was going to slam it down, we just didn't realize the authority he was going to use. It felt as if Castle summoned all the great, hard dunkers of all time as he flushed the ball through the hoop. It looked like a mix of a Shawn Kemp, Moses Malone, Darly Dawkins and Dominique Wilkins dunk. He combined all of these great dunkers into one monstrous dunk. As Castle crammed the ball through the hoop, I couldn't help but make a guttural sound. It was that damn impressive to me watching this dunk. Castle jumped so high, cocked the ball back so effortlessly and smashed the ball through the hoop so hard that it was one of the most beautiful combinations of athletic ability that I've ever witnessed. And as he yelled and stared after making the dunk, I couldn't help but clap in my living room, where I was sitting with my son who was equally impressed.
This was an amazing dunk. Seriously, go pull it up on the internet and watch it right now and you will find yourself as impressed as I was last night. I was already a Steph Castle fan before last night, but now I'm a superfan of him. He reminds me of a great mix of old school and modern basketball, and last night's dunk was the best homage he could pay to the old school dunkers.
What an amazing dunk. I'm still in awe.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.