CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As he back-pedaled furiously to position himself for a hard-charging Dwyane Wade, the Cavaliers' Anderson Varejao didn't need a primer on the laws of physics to know they weren't on his side.

It was Nov. 12, 2009 -- as noted by the 40-plus YouTube postings of the play -- and the Miami Heat guard had built up 90 feet of momentum after teammate Jermaine O'Neal had denied LeBron James on dunk attempt. In full attack mode, Wade drove directly at Varejao.

To avoid contact or embarrassment, some players in Varejao’s predicament might have angled their bodies and half-heartedly played matador defense. But the big Brazilian, respected by teammates and opponents for his indefatigable effort, chose to contest Wade.

The All-Star guard soared above Varejao's outstretched hand for a thunderous dunk, the force of their collision sending the Cavaliers forward tumbling into the padded stanchion.

"It was a huge play, a great play by him," Varejao said recalling the dunk. "But it was also only two points and we won the game."

Such details did not interest ESPN personality Jim Rome, who a day later on his TV show mocked Varejao for getting dunked on and run over. As part of the segment, Rome showed a quote from James, who called Wade's dunk "probably top-10 of all time."

In the age of the 24-hour news cycle and expanding web of social media, Varejao got off lucky. At least nobody turned his last name into a verb, which happened to Timofey Mozgov a season ago. Varejao also didn't have to relive the dunk 61 times the next day on SportsCenter the way Kendrick Perkins did Jan. 31 after Blake Griffin scaled him like he was The Matterhorn.

Decades ago, the lasting image of being dunked on was confined to posters of Julius Irving, Michael Jordan and their gravity-defying ilk. Now, the perceived indignity is but a mouse click away. Coaches have witnessed players stepping aside to skirt such lowlights and have listened to respected players such as Perkins defend themselves for doing their job.

"It has happened to everyone including me -- several times, numerous times, actually," said Griffin, the Los Angeles Clippers power forward and reigning slam dunk champion. "It's one play and you move on. I don't get why people try to treat players who are dunked on as though their lives are over.

"It's unfortunate but I guess that's how it is in this time of . . . social media."

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The confluence of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter allow videos to go viral in minutes. Such was the case on the night Perkins got "Mozgov'd" by Griffin. Athletes across the sports spectrum took to their Twitter accounts reacting to the dunk.

Even Shaquille O'Neal's ex-wife, Shaunie, tweeted: "OMG!!! Did y'all just see Blake Griffin dunk!!!!! Daaayyyummm!"

In addressing the issue, Cavaliers rookie and shot blocker Tristan Thompson spoke very much like a 20-year-old, social-media savant.

"It was tough because Kendrick was a trending topic for a couple days, but it happens," Thompson said.

Griffin told The Plain Dealer he respects players such as Perkins and Varejao who contest shots and don't sweat the consequences. Great shot blockers such as Dikembe Mutumbo are often the ones who get dunked on the most.

A week later, Perkins sounded off to Yahoo Sports: "A lot of people are afraid of humiliation or don't know how to handle embarrassment . . . I don't care," Perkins said. "The people that move out the way and stuff are the people who have insecurity problems.

"That's my job. How will my teammates look at me if next time I just back out the way and just let him dunk when I'm supposed to be defensive-minded, a shot-blocker? That would be a coward move on me."

Dunks rarely cause injury like a hockey player absorbing a vicious hit or a wide receiver getting laid out by a defensive back. So why are some basketball players made to feel awful for allowing a dunk? Philadelphia-based blogger Michael Tillery offered a theory.

"I think it's a manhood kind of thing," said Tillery, who runs the Web site The Starting Five, and contributes to Slam and The Nation magazines. "You don't want someone to have a pejorative memory of you.

"When I think of Shawn Bradley I think of Chris Weber dunking on him. ... You don't want someone's manhood in your face and so you sometimes see guys walking out of the camera frame because they don't want to part of somebody else's history."

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James has been on both ends of memorable dunks. The two-time league Most Valuable Player has had epic slams against Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett. He also made news for a two-hander that never found its way to YouTube.

In July 2009, Jordan Crawford, then of Xavier, dunked on James at his Nike summer camp in Akron. The act was caught on video, but Nike representative Lynn Merritt confiscated it. The story became a public relations fiasco for James as it gave the appearance he or the company didn't want the world to see a college kid throwing down on him.

"It's more about street cred," Tillery said. "I don't think it's on the corporate level, it's about the casual fan. If he sees you getting dunked on, he has a lower definition of who you are as a man and as a player."

Cavaliers radio analyst Jim Chones, an eight-year NBA veteran, said the pro game is based on help defense, players rotating to the ball. Teams cannot afford defenders, he said, who fear being on the wrong end of a SportsCenter Top-10 play.

"It's a distraction and it distorts our game," Chones said.

Through rule changes and modifications, dunkers have an easier time getting to the rim than they did in days when Chones played. He recalls seeing the scrapes and cuts on the arms and upper body of Michael Jordan, the price paid for driving the lane and engaging in aerial dog fights with a Charles Oakley or Rick Mahorn.

Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said Jordan dunked on him and he dunked on Jordan. The Cavs coach sounds happy to have played in an era before guys needed 140 characters to express themselves.

"This tweeting back and forth, you know I'm old school, I think it's a bunch of crap," Scott said. "I read it when it's on ESPN and most of the time I shake my head."

Scott has watched defenders, he said, fail to challenge a reputed dunker like Griffin because they either don't want to get embarrassed or they "are soft."

Few will accuse Perkins or Varejao of not trying to protect the basket. Even Mozgov is improving his reputation. A season after getting dunked on by Griffin, the Denver Nuggets forward sent the All-Star to the deck with a tough foul on Feb. 2. Griffin missed both free throws and the Nuggets cruised to a road victory.

After the game, the Clippers forward said Mozgov's foul was clean and hard. It was a play from a bygone age, one before street cred was linked to YouTube and last names became verbs.

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