As disappointing as the NBA Dunk contests have been in years past, the regular season has had it's share of giddy, jaw-dropping throw downs. One could make a very good argument that these dunks are in fact better than anything someone could put together in a dunk contest. Part of it is the originality and spontaneity that makes you cringe at the staggering athleticism involved in these awesome highlights. Part is the lack of true "posterizations" in a dunk contest. Whether you're jumping over a kid or an seven-footer sitting down, everything is premeditated in those All Star weekend shows.





There's something to be said for that vicious, momentum-changing throw down. So with that in mind, here is a countdown of the best dunks of the 2012-13 NBA season. (Disclaimer: all videos are property of the NBA and I am not claiming rights to any of them.)





10. Jeff Green over Chris Bosh









Green holds the ball in the air before slamming it down on Chris Bosh as if to rub it in his face. Solid flight time and good height earns this one the 10-spot.





9. Kobe Bryant over Kris Humphries









Who said Kobe can't still throw it down 17 years into his career? He beat three Nets and slammed it down on Humphries...vintage Kobe. The one reason that this isn't higher is because he didn't get as much height as some of the other dunks.





8. Byron Mullens over LaMarcus Aldridge









Missing the three-pointer, getting the offensive rebound, and then throwing it down on LaMarcus Aldridge with authority?? Byron Mullens being on the Bobcats is probably the main reason why this dunk is often underrated.





7. Jeff Green over Al Jefferson









Yup, Jeff Green landed another spot in the top-10 with this nasty facial. Al Jefferson could only duck to try to get out of the posters that were preparing to be framed of this one.





6. J.J. Hickson over Alonzo Gee









This one was almost on the level of the DeAndre Jordan dunk and is similarly a big man just demolishing a guard. At least Alonzo Gee had the wherewithal to smile and appreciate what just went down.





5. DeMar Derozan over Timofey Mozgov









It's funny because he played it off like nothing happened, but Derozan threw a monster jam down on a seven-footer with authority.





4. Jamal Crawford to Blake Griffin









This is the one dunk in here that isn't a posterizing slam but the between the legs alley-oop to the windmill jam? Come on now, that's just not fair.





3. DeAndre Jordan over Brandon Knight









The most recent one..."good Knight!" or whatever you want to call it, the lefty DeAndre Jordan threw down an incredible alley-oop from Chris Paul over Brandon Knight with his right hand.





2. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist over Greg Monroe









This dunk speaks for itself, I don't have much to add aside from the fact that it is going to be the No. 1 highlight of the Bobcats for this year. This is the near epitome of a posterizingly authoritative monstrous throw-down. Yes, I just made that word up to describe this dunk.





1. Harrison Barnes over Nikola Pekovic









I watched this live and I stood up immediately after it went down. Literally, I felt a completely involuntary reaction to this great dunk. The rookie Barnes throwing it down on the seven-footer Pekovic was impressive and the staredown was great, too. It tops the list with the highest degree of authority and height. Another astounding part of this dunk was the way it appears to freeze in real-time as he holds it above Pekovic's out-stretched arm.