Ranking Vince Carter and Michael Jordan's all-time greatest dunks

NBA.com India Staff

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10 slides

Vince Carter and Michael Jordan are without a doubt two of the best dunkers to ever play the game, but where do their top dunks stack up against each other?

With Carter playing what could be his final game against Jordan's Charlotte Hornets, lets take a look at a combined top-10 of their best rim-rattling, posterizing, disrespectful finishes.

The 1988 & 2000 Dunk Contest

Sure, you could call this cheating by joining two of their dunks onto one spot on this list, but this isn't the last time it'll happen here. It made sense to equally rate these two insane dunk contest dunks, in which both Vince and MJ were crowned champion of the contest.

First, we have Jordan's iconic dunk from the free throw line to beat Dominique Wilkins in 1988. In need of a 49 to win, what else did you think the super competitive Michael Jordan would do?

And the comparison, the Vince Carter 360 windmill in the 2000 dunk contest. It was his first dunk of the night and he already had Kenny Smith telling everyone to go home.

Vince Carter 360 windmill vs. Cavaliers

Throughout his career, we saw Vince throw down many in-game 360 dunks, but he even says it himself that 'it was a staple of doing that dunk later on but none of them was like the first one.'

Michael Jordan's cradle dunk in MSG debut

Like how we saw Vince throw down a number of 360s, we've seen Jordan rock the cradle many of times – but none of them are like the first time he did it playing in Madison Square Garden. A rookie MJ was sending a message on that stage that there's more where that came from.

Vince Carter's alley-oop versus the Clippers

This alley-oop is downright ridiculous. Charles Oakley found Dee Brown on an outlet pass and just when you thought Brown's pass was out of Carter's reach, he catches it at eye-level with the rim and finishes one of the most impressive alley-oops ever. From that point forward, you could assume that nothing is out of Vince's reach.

Michael Jordan on Charles Barkley

This poster is beyond impressive considering Jordan dunks it off of a drop-step. If Charles Barkley could run that one back, I'd guess he probably would not have jumped.

MJ and Vince dunk on Alonzo Mourning

Like I said before, there were some dunks that these two both pulled off that could not be rated seperately. They both dunked all over one of the game's most elite rim protectors and each was equally as impressive as the other.

Jordan dunked this one as if Mourning wasn't even standing between him and the rim:

And Vince Carter claims Mourning didn't talk to him for 'six or seven years' after this one:

VInce Carter windmill off an alley-oop

This is defies the law of gravity. How does someone float in the air for so long that they can catch an alley-oop and turn it into a windmill?

Michael Jordan on Patrick Ewing

Everything about this is perfect. The little hesitation half-spin to escape the double team only to see Patrick Ewing between him and the rim, putting him on a poster that is cemented in NBA history.

MJ and Vince dunk on Dikembe Mutombo

It's incredible they both dunked on Alonzo Mourning, but it's even more insane they both ended up on the right side of a poster with Dikembe Mutombo.

Jordan put Mutombo in his place after Dikembe bragged about Mike never dunking on him and of course, he hit him with the signature finger wag after:

And when it comes to dunking, if MJ did it, you know Vince had to do it too:

Vince Carter on Fredric Weis

Everyone knows this one. It's hard to even say that Carter dunked on French 7-footer Fredric Weis when really it's more he jumped over him. Regardless of if it was on him or over him, this dunk was most definitely going to earn the top spot on this list.