Before we kick things off, I would just like to thank all of our readers for participating in this week’s Jordan Week. We thought this would be a really fun week of reflecting on the greatest basketball player of all time, and we hope you had just as much fun reading as it was for us writing. Please let us know through your communication channel of choice what you thought of the event, and feel free to share any ideas that you may have.

With that out of the way, let us move on to to the fun.

Michael Jordan was one of the greatest dunkers of his generation, and the things he did on the court were mesmerizing. Some of his dunks defied gravity itself, whether it was a dunk off of a fast break, or if it was getting his revenge on Alonzo Mourning (oh yes, we’ll get to that).

To help cap off Jordan Week, let’s take a look five dunks that I feel were the best dunks of His Airness’ career. These will be in no particular order, as it is really difficult to try rank all of these amazing feats of athleticism. Let’s get started.

Michael Jordan Posterizes Jack Sikma

Michael Jordan can make a very strong case as the most disrespectful dunker in history. Whenever you saw him with the ball in his hands and the tongue came out, you knew he was on a mission to embarrass someone. 6’11 Milwaukee Bucks center Jack Sikma learned this lesson the hard way in this game from 1990, when Michael Jordan essentially tried to dunk the soul out of Sikma once he got to the rim.

MJ’s Revenge on Alonzo Mourning

Oh Alonzo Mourning, you were so young. You had so much ambition to knock the king off his throne, and you indeed managed to get a couple of good plays on Jordan. The crucial mistake that you made, however, is you started talking trash to the king of trash talk. What transpired following Mourning and his Hornets teammates giving Jordan the business, is His Airness taking flight, making sure Alonzo’s pride was shattered into a million pieces and maybe a few hundred more for good measure. The rage scream that followed was also nothing short of epic.

The Wag

Dikembe Mutombo was a monster of a player, and was the rim defender to end all rim defenders. His signature wag as he obliterated basketballs with his Thor hammer-like hands was always the cherry on top of what was many a many soul-crushings of opposing teams. He was such a dominant defender that even Michael Jordan hadn’t gotten a dunk on him prior to what I am about to show you. Mutombo very much made that fact known to Jordan as well, and let’s just say MJ took it as a challenge. To top off putting Mutombo on a poster, he made sure that the signature finger wag was reciprocated. No no no Mutombo, you do not jump with the GOAT.

Patrick Ewing, aka Michael Jordan’s Punching Bag

What else is there to say here? Former New York Knicks star had a terrible time dealing with Michael Jordan. His chances of winning a NCAA championship were destroyed by Michael Jordan’s shot back in the 80s, and throughout his professional career, Jordan made sure that Ewing never made it to the NBA Finals with him on the court. Jordan literally had to retire before the Knicks could make it to the NBA Finals, and even then they weren’t able to seal the deal.

Michael wasn’t the only one that did horrible things to Ewing — Scottie Pippen had one of the most disrespectful dunks in NBA history on Ewing, and I’m sure it’s one that still gives him nightmares. Jordan’s was pretty spectacular as well, as is evidence in this video. The amount of air that he got over Ewing alone makes me wonder if he actually does have the capability of flight.

The Cradle Dunk

Last but not least, one of the most iconic dunks in Michael Jordan’s repertoire: the cradle dunk. The first time we ever saw this dunk was during his playing days at UNC against Maryland, and it was a dunk that to this day is one of the most impressive dunks in UNC history. The fact that this happened at Maryland makes it all the more sweeter.

What do you think of the list? Do you think these were indeed the top five dunks in Michael Jordan’s career? What would your ranking of the dunks be? Let us know in the comments below.