To this day, the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest probably still reigns supreme. When people think about the dunk contest, that’s one of the first that comes to mind — thanks in large part to two Toronto Raptors players that were there, eventual champion Vince Carter as well as his cousin Tracy McGrady.
That was the dunk contest that put the Raptors on the map for the first time, and the performances from Carter and T-Mac have inspired an entire generation of dunkers.
Anfernee Simons just became this year’s slam dunk contest champion with a McGrady tribute among his three dunks, and he’s far from the first player to perform a throwback dunk in honour of Carter or McGrady.
It’s fair to say that Carter and McGrady’s dunks are timeless — and to this day, still consistent crowd-pleasers. Every single one of these tribute dunks below were performed by the eventual champs, which is honestly remarkable to think about.
Terrence Ross - 2013
As a young Raptors player in the dunk contest himself, you know that Terrence Ross had to show some love to his OG. Donning VC’s jersey, Terrence Ross completed the off-the-backboard 360 tomahawk dunk that Carter, then with McGrady’s help, pulled off in 2000.
Donovan Mitchell - 2018
This is the wrong Raptors jersey! By the year 2000, Toronto had stopped wearing these pinstripe jerseys with the cartoon dinosaur. That’s okay though, because they’re fan favourites that we’re always glad to see get some love.
Donovan Mitchell brought out the purple pinstripes to recreate Carter’s 360 windmill dunk... and he made it look easy.
Hamidou Diallo - 2019
What is this, a crossover episode? In an inspired mash-up of two all-time dunks, Hamidou Diallo combined Carter’s honey-dip elbow dunk with Nate Robinson’s Superman dunk over Shaquille O’Neal. They say that creativity in the dunk contest is dead, but this tribute begs to differ.
Anfernee Simons - 2021
Usually, the dunk contest tributes are made out to Vince Carter, which we understand. But Tracy McGrady’s dunks were no less influential! Again, this is technically the wrong era of Raps jersey that Simons went with here, but we don’t care. This dunk was sick.
