Advertisement

Gerald Green recreates socks-only dunk from 2008 contest

Although he officially retired from the competition last season, Phoenix Suns wing Gerald Green remains one of the greatest dunk contest participants of all time. Green won in 2007, but his greatest moment undoubtedly occurred a year later when he unleashed a dunk known as "The Birthday Cake," in which he blew out the candle on a cupcake perched on top of the rim. Better yet, it did not appear to be anyone's birthday.

[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]

Green had another pretty special dunk in that competition that didn't translate quite so well to television. For his fourth attempt, Green took off his shoes for a through-the-legs slam. As anyone who has ever set foot on a basketball court in just socks knows, this is really, really difficult:

This moment occurred seven years ago, back when Green was just 22 years old. At shootaround before Wednesday's road game against the Orlando Magic, Green proved that he's just as capable of this dunk at 29:

There is not much to analyze here — Green does the same dunk he did long ago on a major stage, in practice, as if it's nothing to brag about. The only sane reaction to such a feat is to be thankful that we've had the opportunity to watch a singularly athletic player for so long. It's been our pleasure.

- - - - - - -

Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!