You’re going to see some outstanding dunks during this weekend’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and chances are someone will miss at least a couple. But I can guarantee you nobody will miss as many as Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen did back in 2005.
Andersen, then representing the Denver Nuggets, needed 15 attempts to complete two dunks. That means he missed 13 dunks in a single dunk contest -- simply remarkable. The sad thing is Andersen was actually a phenomal athlete and a really good dunker, but his legacy will forever be associated with the most pathetic dunk contest performance of all time.
You may have forgotten about it, but the internet never does. The nice Canadian folks over at theScore recently gave Birdman the Akon treatment, which is actually pretty incredible (turn on the volume).
If you want to watch all of his misses in their cringeworthy glory, here they are. Judge and legendary dunker Julius “Dr. J” Irving said it best: “This is hard -- it’s harder than it looks. But it ain’t that hard.”
Look, you’ve got to give the guy credit for persistence. Most would have gone to a different dunk -- but not Birdman. Hopefully this year’s contestants have learned their lesson and will move on to a second dunk after four or five straight misses.
