When I was in high school, our basketball games and assemblies began with our principal delivering a dry speech about school spirit and sportsmanship, followed by our sub-par cheerleaders making vague “woo” gestures while a bunch of gangly jerks tried to dribble from the entrance to center-court without losing it or hurting themselves. In Florida, high school basketball games begin with TRAMPOLINE DUNKS OVER FIRE. Because Florida.

This clip (by way of Prep Rally, by way of MaxPreps) features Monsignor Edward Pace High School kicking off a consequence-free regular-season game by asking somebody to propel themselves through a pillar of flame. It’s the exact kind of thing that inspires and leads a team to … a 9-20 record?

Who knows? Maybe they spent their athletic budget on a trampoline and a flame thrower. Maybe their coach is just a crazy dude with a book of matches. That seems like the escalation of a joke, but nope, it’s Florida. If the team ran out after this engulfed in flame like in that one ‘Wax’ video I wouldn’t be surprised.

Seeing as David Stern and the NBA prefer putting superstar-led teams on ESPN and TNT, and AT&T U-Verse doesn’t have NBA TV available for po’ folk like me, I don’t get to watch Javale McGee’s crazy ass play as much as I’d like to. So I have to depend on Twitter and the great Denver bloggers and writers that I follow to fill me in on the crazy things he says or does each week. It also helps that McGee has his own Twitter account, and his Goofus ways inspire a new meme practically every other week (see above).

But every once in a while, McGee stops sipping the crazy juice long enough to show a flash of brilliance that could be put in the shoe box of evidence that he uses to proclaim his status as one of the best centers in the NBA. Well, at least he’s paid like he believes that.

Last night was one of those brilliant moments, as McGee was on the receiving end of a ¾-court pass from Andre Miller for an alley-oop jam. Of course, the Nuggets lost to the Brooklyn Nets, 119-108, but it’s still nice that McGee flashed a little potential.

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The Wednesday Dunk Battle is your most important weekly stop as a With Leather reader. Your viewing of a collection of dunks and decision regarding which dunk was the most Slam Dunk is important not only for editor-to-patron relations, but for SCIENCE, because deciding which dunks are best is science’s primary goal.

Last week’s winner (in a landslide) was Kobe Bryant. This week’s showdown features Dwyane Wade, Blake Griffin, a jumble of consonants and what may or may not be Teenage Gronkowski back for dunking glory.

This week’s contestants:

1. It says “DeMar DeRozan dunks on Timofey Mozgov” but I refuse to believe that those are peoples’ names
2. Back-to-back dunks from DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin
3. Dwyane Wade’s “showtime reverse”
4. Trevor Wages from the COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (~!) shatters the backboard

Please consult the dunk clips and make your decision below.

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You know the drill. Every Wednesday we collect four notable slam dunks from the last seven days of basketball and pit them against one another in the WEDNESDAY DUNK BATTLE. You watch the dunks, then scroll to the bottom and vote for your favorite. The winner is named the scientifically, democratically-decided Dunk Of The Week, which I assume wins them fame and prizes.

This week’s dunks:

1. Nick Young’s 360 dunk for the mild enjoyment of Sixers fans.
2. Pacific University’s awesomely-named Dustin Bowser catches a ball off the glass and sends his defender tumbling into a wall.
3. Kobe Bryant dunks on the Nets, but Kris Humphries is there, so we’ll just say he specifically dunked on Kris Humphries, because f**k Kris Humphries
4. Nate Robinson’s fast-forward dunk on the Bucks.

Please consult the following clips and make your decision below.

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You know how this works.

In order to further Slam Dunk Analysis sciences, we’re asking you, the With Leather community, to compare four of the week’s best dunks and tell us which was the most … uh, slam dunk. We’re still working on the phrasing. Anyway, watch these four dunk clips and please, take a moment to vote in the handy poll included at the bottom.

Your dunks for this week:

1. James Harden’s tomahawk slam on the Utah Jazz.
2. Carlos Boozer dunks, gets an amazing call, gets an even better reaction from Taj Gibson.
3. Jeff Green dunks on Chris Bosh, specifically.
4. Dwight Howard sucks at basketball.

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Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the return of the Wednesday Dunk Battle, the Internet’s only democratic, scientific determination of slam dunk effectiveness in relation to its peers!

If you’ve never participated in a Wednesday Dunk Battle, now’s the time to start. All you have to do is watch four slam dunk videos (the best kind of videos, fact) and decide which dunk is the most slam-dunkingest in the included poll. The winner will receive two prizes: (1) great admiration from the readership of a comedy sports blog, (2) a continued life of being a millionaire.

This week’s dunks are:

1. Kevin Durant dunking on the Los Angeles Clippers so hard their families felt it
2. Last Thursday’s LeBron James effort that made Kobe Bryant’s face do this emoticon – :O
3. Damian Lillard turning Nene from the Washington Wizards into Nene from the Real Housewives
4. Alonzo Gee making Kevin Garnett something something Honey Nut Cheerios

Please watch each clip carefully, then vote!

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