Howard s top five defensive players in history: Carter, Jordan, himself, Wilkins and Dawkins

June 22 Former NBA star Dwight Howard recently listed his top five dunk masters in history on a podcast show.

"I'll put myself in third place," Howard said. "The first place is Vince Carter... Next is Michael Jordan. Then there is Dominic Wilkins, and Daryl Dawkins. Although no one puts him on the roster, I have to add him."

Vince Carter is widely regarded as the greatest dunk player in history. He only participated in the dunk contest once in his career (2000) and won that contest. The host expressed some surprise at Howard's choice of Carter over Jordan, but Howard sticks to his rankings and mentioned Carter's classic dunk with a leap forward in the 2000 Olympics.

Jordan won the slam dunk contest twice, in 1987 and 1988, and was the first player to successfully defend his title and win the slam dunk contest multiple times.

Howard placed himself in third place, winning the 2008 slam dunk contest. His second dunk that night wore a Superman costume and cape, becoming one of the most classic moments in the dunk contest in recent years.

Dominic Wilkins is the second player to win the dunk twice after Jordan, in 1985 and 1990 respectively. Wilkins is known as the "Essence of Human Movies." The last one on Howard's roster is Darrell Dawkins, who has never participated in the dunk contest. Dawkins was well suited for this kind of game, but he was already past his peak when the NBA first held the slam dunk contest in 1984. He once smashed rebounds with a dunk twice.