Ranking OKC Thunder top 50 dunks in franchise history
By Noah Schulte
No. 8: Russ kills Thon Maker
Why Russ felt the need to end Thon Maker’s career like this is beyond me. Maker was a mere 19 years old at the time with a promising career as a 3&D big ahead of him. Now, he’s just a shell of who he once was. Maybe Russ felt compelled to go after Maker after seeing all of his mixtapes from high school which brashly anointed Maker “THE NEXT KD.” Maybe Russ just wanted to just reach the young center a lesson but either way this dunk was straight-up brutal.
Maker is a solid 7’1” with a long wingspan and springy athleticism, and Russ still jumped over him as if he were a barstool. And he hung on the rim–and on Maker’s neck–for an embarrassing amount of time. There was malicious intent on this dunk, I just can’t figure out why.