Andrew Wiggins is only in his fourth NBA season, but the Timberwolves’ rising star has already provided us with an article’s worth of highlight reel dunks.
There have been a lot of criticisms of Minnesota Timberwolves wing Andrew Wiggins over the first few years of his career. He is a terrible off-ball defender. He doesn’t help in any way besides scoring. Truthfully, his potential has far outweighed his actual production.
One thing is absolutely true about Wigs, however: he is a freak athlete.
Even in high school, he was showing off his bounceability. And not only was he showing his hops, he was impressing the elite high school prospects that were part of the McDonald’s All-Americans.
(If you look closely, the guy he was high-fiving at the end of the clip was fellow noted dunker Aaron Gordon.)
Just in case you were wondering, the man they call Maple Jordan was able to transfer his athleticism from high school to college. Through his one year in Kansas, he was able to put out plenty of highlight plays. None, however, were bigger than his one-handed throwdown against Kansas State.
With fantastic finishes like that in high school and college, one would naturally assume that his slams in the pros are just good if not better. And, they would be correct.
In his fourth year as a Minnesota Timberwolf, Wigs has already collected enough posters to fill the bedroom of any fan. He has dropped the hammer on both guards and big men, including over one of the most well-known shot-blockers and best defenders in the league.
Let’s take a look at his top-five NSFW (just kidding) dunks — so far.
Honorable Mentions
As it turns out, it was impossible to isolate only five awesome dunks, so we’re starting out with a list of honorable mentions before we dive all the way into the list
First, Wiggins flies by Paul Millsap for the big one-handed flush:
Who can forget when Wiggins punched one home right on top of Omer Asik, back when Asik was a the height of his defensive powers?
Wigs spices up the border battle with a slam dunk over Miles Plumlee just under a year ago:
Finally, here he is casually throwing it down with two hands over Kevin Durant:
And now, let’s take a spin through the actual top-five, which includes the names of some notable NBA stars.
First up, Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic.
5. Nikola Vucevic
The dunk that comes in at the #5 spot for Wiggins could easily be #1 for so many others.
The Orlando Magic set themselves up for this poster. When Wigs catches the ball at the top of the 3-point line, he was being guarded by Aaron Gordon. There is no way, I repeat: NO WAY, Gordon was going to do anything to stop the former Jayhawk from driving the lane. The dunk is obviously the excitement in that clip, but watching Gordon try to cover Wiggins was pretty good, too. He made him look like Adrian Peterson performing a jump cut back in the day.
(A mention also goes to his shoes. The lime green Adidas look beautiful as they glide through the air.)
The best way to measure how great a poster dunk is has to be the fan reaction. While bench reaction is a close second, the ability to get the crowd pumped up by throwing it down on someone is invaluable. The amount of volume and excitement that was pumped into Target Center there was amazing. Throughout the years, the crowd for the Wolves at home has been docile and not willing to get loud for much of anything outside of having the opposing team miss both free throws during a trip to the line to win free Cherry Berry. But this dunk sent the Target Center crowd into a frenzy.
Rewatch that dunk and remind yourself: that’s number-five. There are four more better than this. Next up, Javale McGee.
4. JaVale McGee
The situation and circumstances surrounding this dunk are a little more impressive than number-five.
This slam has the Wolves taking on the mighty Golden State Warriors. Also, they are playing at Oracle Arena, so Wiggins’ slam had the awesome effect of silencing the crowd, which is just as good as whipping a home crowd into a frenzy.
This dunk was set up by driving right by an opponent, and in this case it is noted defensive standout Andre Iguodala. Although it was not as exciting of a jab step as he did on Gordon, he got past Iggy like he was stuck in cement.
Once he got to the rim, he was met by Javale McGee. While McGee isn’t necessarily known as an outstanding shot blocker, he does have the athleticism to reject someone. And you can see that while Wiggins was driving, McGee had his sights set on an amazing rejection. About halfway through the dunk, however, he had given up the block attempt and had just accepted the fact he was going to be in Wiggins’ poster.
With that dunk being from last season, let’s turn the clock forward to something a little more recent for entry #3. Sorry, Josh Richardson.
3. Josh Richardson
There seems to be a pattern for all of these dunks: Wiggins starts off with a jab step. He is not interested in catching a pass while slashing for the jam, he would rather humiliate the defender -with a blow-by and just slam it on someone’s head.
Josh Richardson is a little different though. While Wigs did blow by him, Richardson had the speed and angle to catch-up to the Canadian. Maybe he wished he hadn’t, however.
This dunk could have easily been number-one on the list; just the fact that Richardson thought he had any chance of blocking Wiggins on that play makes it so much better. If LeBron James is chasing you down, you get a little more worried. Josh Richardson, however, was just humiliated.
Another reason this dunk is so impressive is due to the time left on the clock. With 38.6 seconds left and with Minnesota up by just two, Wiggins and the Wolves might have felt it better to waste some clock and take a 3-pointer with only a couple of seconds remaining on the shot clock. Wigs, however, decided to take a more direct path to put Minnesota up four and make it a two possession game.
Being the aggressor pays in the NBA, especially when you are able to finish at the rim the way Maple Jordan does.
Next up, the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.
2. Nikola Jokic
Dunking on someone is, as I can only assume as a human being who only has the hops of a mortal, one of the most exciting things you can do as a basketball player. Slamming one home on top of a division rival can only make that feeling sweeter.
Enter Nikola Jokic. He is a very good young player and a great passer for a big man. Everyone who watches basketball can tell you his stock is on the rise. The only thing on the rise on that night, however, was Andrew Wiggins.
The play begins with, once again, with Wigs at the tops of the 3-point line and a jab step. It ended, as it often does, with the Timberwolves swingman making another grown man look foolish.
Side note: I love his celebration when he dunks on someone. The flex taunt is nothing too flashy, but it gets the point across, just like Wiggins game. You know…minus the dunks.
So far, we have seem Wiggins flex on couple promising young big men, an established veteran big, and a wing. The only poster he has yet to collect on this list is against a shot blocker.
Enter Rudy Gobert.
1. Rudy Gobert
Dunking on someone who is known for blocking shots is so much more exciting from a fan’s perspective. Being able to see a player fail at something he is good at is oddly satisfying.
That is exactly what Air Canada did to Rudy Gobert. I mean, Gobert is so good at blocking shots that his nickname is the Stifle Tower.
While this was the one dunk on this list coming from a pass while he is slashing, Wigs was still in perfect position. Combine Gobert not being completely ready for Wiggins, plus his uncanny jumping ability and the Timberwolf has a recipe for success.
And there you have it: the top-five dunks for a player who is only in his fourth year in the NBA. Have any thoughts on my list? Did I rank the Josh Richardson dunk too high? Did the Paul Millsap slam deserve a spot in the top-five?
Next: The art of the Andrew Wiggins spin move
Let me know your thoughts on Twitter. Hit me up @MaX_nEuHaUs and let me know. By the end of the season, I’m sure I’ll have to redo the list.