Shaquille O’Neal Digs Up Footage of One of the Best NBA Dunkers of All-Time

Abhishek Dhariwal | 05/08/2024
Shaquille O'Neal Digs Up Footage of One of the Best NBA Dunkers of All-Time

Shaquille O’Neal used to tear down rims and break backboards in his prime in the NBA. So he knows a little something about the art of explosive dunking in the league. Therefore, fans took notice when the big man recently endorsed someone as a top dunker in the NBA.

The Big Aristotle shared a video on his official Instagram Stories, which featured a compilation of dunks of one of the most underrated dunkers of all time, Gerald Green.

While the Los Angeles Lakers icon did not caption his story, the video was captioned, “Gerald Green is a top ___ NBA dunker of all time.”

In the compilation video, we can see Green doing all kind of wizardry inside the paint. The former Celtics forward’s rim-rattling windmills and two-handed jams can be heard reverberating throughout the video. Even the commentators were going crazing describing the slams.

Green’s arsenal ranged from alley-oop dunks to fastbreak slams. The athletic 6’7 forward was a menace in the paint.

Many fans may not be aware but Green was the Slam Dunk Champion back in 2007. Starting his career with the Celtics, he played for over nine teams in his 12-year NBA career.

 

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For most of his career, Green mostly came off the bench. However, he had a breakout season with the Phoenix Suns in the latter half of his career. 

The caption on the video reminded fans of Gerald’s dunking ability, which was largely forgotten after the 38-year-old’s departure from the league. Shaq’s story showed us that a player doesn’t have to be a superstar for us to appreciate his craft.

Gerald Green’s journey in the league

Gerald Green was the 18th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. However, he only played two seasons with the team before he was traded. 

Green’s ability to be a spark plug coming off the bench was something teams in the league found invaluable. The shooting guard out of Texas would often come running down the floor to jam it down on his opponents or to just glide in and finish a putback slam.

But one thing GG was never able to find in the NBA was stability. After only four seasons in the NBA, Green went to play overseas before returning to the league after two years.

Having played for over nine teams in his career, Green’s most memorable moments were from his time with the New Jersey Nets (now Brooklyn Nets) and the Phoenix Suns during his final few years in the league. Now the former Slam Dunk Champion is a developmental coach with the Houston Rockets.

Post Edited By: Satagni Sikder
Shaquille O'Neal

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Abhishek Dhariwal

A fan of Basketball since the late 2000s, Abhishek Dhaiwal has been covering the game for over five years. Having done his masters in Journalism and Mass Communication, Abhishek is an NBA sports journalist at The SportsRush. A fan of the San Antonio Spurs since the Tim Duncan era, Abhishek has an extensive knowledge of the sport and has covered more than 1500 articles. Having a firsthand experience of the sport, Abhishek has represented his city and state at a District and National level. And it is the same level of expertise he aims to bring while covering extensive topics both on and off the court of your favorite basketball stars.

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