The Smoking Cuban
FanSided

Dallas Mavericks: Dennis Smith Jr. lands at No. 2 on NBA top 20 dunks

ByKohl Rast|
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - DECEMBER 28: Dennis Smith Jr. #1 of the Dallas Mavericks dunks on Julius Randle #30 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at the Smoothie King Center on December 28, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - DECEMBER 28: Dennis Smith Jr. #1 of the Dallas Mavericks dunks on Julius Randle #30 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at the Smoothie King Center on December 28, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Former Dallas Mavericks point guard, Dennis Smith Jr., just missed out on the top spot in the NBA’s countdown of the top 20 dunks from last season. DSJ dunked the life out of New Orleans while still with the Mavs on December 28th.

NBA dunk week is coming to an end, but we can’t let it pass by without mentioning that a Dallas Mavericks player finished with the No. 2 ranked dunk around the league last year. Sure, that player isn’t in Dallas anymore, but that doesn’t change the fact that Dennis Smith Jr. was a Maverick when the dunk took place.

Most of us around here are still missing DSJ and wishing things could have gone a little differently. Although we would do the trade for Kristaps Porzingis again and again, it is sad the way things ended between Dennis and Dallas. He and Luka were an awfully fun pair to watch for the brief time that we got to.

Anyways, back to the dunk. In December of last year, the Dallas Mavericks had a back to back with the New Orleans Pelicans. On the second game of the back-to-back, DSJ threw down a vicious dunk over a late rotation from Julius Randle. Randle found his way on to the wrong end of a poster after this one.

You can hear them in the video talking about Solomon Hill‘s dunk prior to this one from Dennis. Let’s just say that Hill’s dunk over Kleber was nowhere near what Smith did to Randle on this one. The only dunk that topped that one in the eyes of the NBA was the high-flying alley-oop thrown to Derrick Jones Jr.

Dennis was traded to the New York Knicks just a month later after this slam, but Mavs fans were lucky to get a lot of great memories out of the very short time Dennis Smith Jr. spent in Dallas. We wish him nothing but the best throughout his career and maybe a reunion could be in order somewhere down the line.

To see the top 20 dunks from the NBA in the 2018-19 season, follow the NBA on Twitter or Instagram. Luka and Dennis Smith are the two representatives for the Mavs in the top 20 and I’m proud to say that none of the other top 20 dunks were over any Mavs players.

Home/Mavs News