Tall players are often stigmatized as less impressive dunkers. Shorter players get more love because they need to elevate a lot more to cram the ball through the hoop. Of course, that is not to suggest that tall players can't jump as high - it's just that simply they don't need to. The rim is 10 feet no matter what.

Kevin Garnett stretches out 84 inches, a full seven-feet. Add the length of his impossibly long arms, and you've got one cat who can dunk effortlessly. But guess what? KG is one of my favourite dunkers. I love the way he jams that pill through the basket. He dunks with flair, finesse, power, style, showmanship, ferocity, and violence.

This one time during Garnett's rookie season, KG was leading a fastbreak, and dished to a running teammate, who then tossed it back to him. KG caught it near the 3-point line, took two steps, and exploded from just inside the foul line. The defender was trying to get the hell out of the way as KG soared to the rim, puncturing the moment with a right-handed hack. He dunked so hard that he knocked himself off balance on the landing, and was briefly stunned as he recoiled and stood up with that infamous laser glare in his eyes, and ran back on defence.

Another great dunk was in a game when he was still at Farragut as a high school senior. KG was, again, running the fastbreak - this time after swatting a shot. He passed the ball to a teammate who was running ahead - and who, knowing that KG was trailing the play, bounced the ball high off the backboard. Garnett, racing down center-lane, jumped off both feet, with his left foot in front. He caught the ball in mid-air with both hands - by now his body was leaning sideway 45 degrees. And with one swift motion (still in the air, head almost rim-level), Garnett released his left hand from the ball, and viciously stuffed the ball through the rim with his right hand. Oh sick.

Watching him slam like that is pure adrenaline. As a dynamic and versatile dunker, KG can do it all: windmills, tomahawks, sledgehammers, double-pumps, alley-oops, tip-slams, put-backs, reverse throw-downs, two-handed flushes, one-handed crams -- all of which he can stuff over, around, on, and through opponents. Not only that, but the way he flies to the rim is impressive: he'll lean forwards, backwards, sideways; he'll bend and kick his legs, he'll sideswipe his arm, he'll shield himself from defenders; he'll scream so loud that you'd swear he's crazy. That's dunking as an art.

That's dunking at its very, very best.