Ranking every dunk from the Slam Dunk contest

Donovan Mitchell won the Slam Dunk contest Saturday night, but did he have the best dunk?

Below, we rank the 12 combined throw-downs from Mitchell, Larry Nance Jr., Dennis Smith Jr., and Victor Oladipo based on style, power, creativity, and degree of difficulty.

12. Oladipo can't land the 2-handed reverse windmill

The only dunk attempt of the night that wasn't completed. It's a pity, because this would've been pretty nasty if Oladipo had stuck it. He got up.
- Joe Wolfond

11. Smith's double-clutch tomahawk reverse (scored 39)

Smith's first dunk wasn't the most creative offering, and he tried to compensate with raw power. It ended up looking pretty similar to what Aaron Gordon did when he ran out of material at the end of the epic 2016 contest. A little underwhelming for an opener, especially from the betting favorite to win the event. He'd more than make up for it with his second dunk, but that wasn't enough to lift him to the final round. - Wolfond

10. Oladipo goes Black Panther (40)

By coincidence, A-list Hollywood actor and "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman was sitting courtside. He gifted Oladipo with the character's mask, but the superpowers didn't help the Pacers star on his first attempt. He flushed his second double-pump, though. - Chick

9. Larry Nance Jr. from Larry Nance Sr. (46)

Larry Nance Sr. knows something about dunking, as he won the NBA's first modern Slam Dunk contest way back in 1984. So his assist to son Larry Jr. was on point. - Chick

8. Nance recreates father's 'rock-the-cradle' dunk (44)

Ever the showman, Nance opened with a tribute to the first dunk contest winner. The current Cavalier received an assist from halftime performers Quick Change to get into his dad's retro Suns uniform before throwing down a gorgeous cradle windmill slam. - Victoria Nguyen

7. Mitchell channels Vince (48)

Mitchell isn't the first contestant to don a Vince Carter jersey in honor of the man who saved the dunk contest. Yet his recreation - albeit on the second attempt - of Carter's reverse 360 windmill from the 2000 event, complete with the fingers-to-the-sky reaction, was pretty cool. - Chick

6. Mitchell skies over Kevin Hart and kids (50)

Mitchell wanted to share the spotlight with family and friends, so he brought out his sister, actor Kevin Hart, and Hart's son, and then posterized all of them. After the ball bounced off the side of the backboard, he took flight and threw down a vicious tomahawk over the ducking trio, and sprinkled in some "post-dunk pageantry" fit for Hollywood. Bonus points for the judges hilariously ripping Hart. - Nguyen

5. Nance from behind the backboard (49)

There used to be an unwritten rule that players taller than 6-foot-8 didn't make great dunk contest participants. Aaron Gordon tossed that theory out the window a few years ago, and the 6-foot-9 Nance had a good night Saturday. This baseline turnaround windmill featured plenty of raw power. As Kenny Smith indicated, however, the post-dunk reaction was lacking. - Chick

4. Mitchell uses 2 backboards (48)

Mitchell got the contest started on the right foot by bringing out a second basket. The Jazz rookie threw the alley off one and slammed the oop on the other. Creativity and degree of difficulty aside, it was impressive that he completed it on his first try. - Nguyen

3. Nance introduces the double tap (50)

Nance tossed an alley-oop off the backboard and tapped it off the glass once again before completing a downright difficult double-tap dunk. His innovation earned him a perfect score. - Nguyen

2. Mitchell murders rim with one-handed self-oop windmill (50)

Mitchell's finest dunk of the night was all about power.

The dunk was stylish enough, to be sure, and there's plenty of difficulty in catching a self-pass off the backboard with one hand and windmilling it through the hoop in one fluid motion. But what really made this dunk was its ferocity. That rim will be quivering for days. - Wolfond

1. Smith goes 360 between the legs and finishes with the left (50)

Smith didn't walk away with the trophy, or even advance past the first round, but he unequivocally had the most impressive dunk of the night. For degree of difficulty, not many dunks in the contest's history can compete with this one, and if he'd stuck it on the first attempt (it took him three tries) it would've gone down as an all-timer.

What's so impressive about this dunk is how many moving parts it involves, and the absurd combination of leaping ability, body control, and hand-eye coordination required to pull it off. Smith emulated Gordon with his first dunk, so perhaps it's fitting he joins the 2016 runner-up on the contest's All-Robbed team. - Wolfond