Happy Birthday, DeMar DeRozan! Here Are The 10 Filthiest Dunks Of His Career

Today, former USC standoutDeMAr DeRozan turns 24. The 6-7 swingman might have settled into a jump-shooting role with the Raptors, but as he celebrates his birthday, we thought we’d give the 2010 Slam Dunk Contest runner-up a tribute by recounting the top 10 dunks of his four-year career.

It’s hard to pinpoint the moment when DeRozan became one of the league’s most acrobatic finishers at the rim, but the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during his rookie year turned him into a well-known name among the NBA’s best leapers. Since then, he’s continued to kiss the sky, providing poor Raptors fans a brief respite from largely dwelling in the NBA’s basement during his career.

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10. Alley-oop against Miami in 2010

During DeRozan’s rookie season, his Raptors faced off against the old Miami Heat. As this alley-oop from Jose Calderon shows, the 6-7 rookie had some serious ups, and he showed the Heat it was probably smart to put a body on him as he was scuttling along the baseline.

9. Summer League switch hand alley-oop windmill.

Yeah, it’s Summer League and the defense is servile, to say the least, but this finish by DeRozen has to be included simply because he makes it look so easy. It’s just a casual run at the gym for DeRozen, and you notice there’s no posturing after he throws it down. He just casually jogs back up the court. Love that.

8. Alley-oop against the Knicks in 2010

This oop is similar to one off Calderon’s pass for No. 10, but DeRozan seems to get even higher on this one. So much so, in fact, he appears to flirt with knocking his head on the rim as he effortlessly places the ball through the rim with his off-hand. If you watch, you can see him mess up his timing a little bit, which meant he had to finish facing away from the rim with that off-hand. Just sick body control for a nasty in-game dunk.

7. Hammer dunk past David West during 2010-11 season

Back when David West was playing for the New Orleans Hornets, he was still a bone-crushing power forward. But in this clip, DeRozan takes a pass as he’s curling around a weak screen from Andrea Bargnani, and just keeps going as he slips the steal attempt from West and slams it down with authority.

6. Drew League slams 2013

This comes from just a few weeks ago when DeRozen, James Harden and other NBA and playground stars were getting some run at LA’s Drew League.

DeRozan’s skywalking slams brought the fickle crowd to it’s feet, though—including a spiffy 360 on the break.

5. Over Al Jefferson and Derrick Favors in 2011 & a clutch dunk in overtime over Millsap

This first dunk shows DeRozen spinning past his defender before elevating past Al Jefferson and Derrick Favors. It’s a great combination of body control during the drive and court awareness after he spun past the defender.

This second one comes from this most recent season when DeRozen slammed the ball with under 30 seconds left in overtime to give the Raptors a two-point lead. Unfortunately, the Raptors would go on to lose to the Jazz 140-133 in triple overtime. Still, this is a huge dunk at a big moment of the game from DeRozan.

4. Over Tyrus Thomas in 2011

What can you say about this dunk that probably hasn’t already been written. Tyrus Thomas is supposed to be a rim-protector, and yet DeRozan annihilates him after getting into the lane and into the air.

3. Over Brad Miller in 2010

The Chicago Bulls’ erstwhile center, is perhaps most famous for almost getting clocked by Shaquille O’Neal, as he used to relish his ability to annoy opponents. Not so much here as DeRozen introduces himself to the lumbering 7-footer during his rookie year.

2. Second dunk at the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest: reverse, one-handed windmill

After scoring a 44 on his first dunk during the 2011 contest, DeRozen first asked the crowd for some support before lobbing the ball into the air, catching it with one hand, and—with his head slanted under the rim—flushing on the opposite side. Yeah, pretty dope, even though he didn’t win the competition it’s still one of the smoothest dunks we’ve seen at the annual contest. It’s particularly fun to watch in the slowed down version.

Slo-mo version:

1. Over Timofey Mozgov in February of 2013

Poor Mozgov. First Blake, then DeMar. The Russian has become something of a punching bag on the dunk front, appearing in a couple different posters, but not as the star. While DeRozan’s slam isn’t quite as spectacular as Griffin’s, he does jump right at the 7-footer after dribbling through traffic, and he’s able to get high enough to finish over the big man. Just awesome.

Happy birthday DeMar DeRozan. May you have many more birthdays and dunks as you continue on your NBA odyssey.

What’s your favorite DeMar DeRozen dunk?

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