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14 Arsalan Kazemi (IRI)
01/07/2020
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Did you enjoy Kazemi's dunk? Here are 5 more vicious jams

TEHRAN (Iran) - The fans' votes have been counted and it's official. Arsalan Kazemi aka "King of Dunks" aka "Prince of Posters" holds claim to having thrown down FIBA's Dunk of the Decade. While his OQT 2016 poster on Greece's Ioannis Bourousis was certainly worthy of winning the bracket, Kazemi has also thrown down some other monster slams throughout his years playing for Iran.

In case you aren't completely sold, here's a list of his best recent jams to have you convinced!

Not a one-hit wonder

The dunk of the moment against Greece is a banger, but it was not the only facial slam Kazemi threw down at the FIBA Olympics Qualifying Tournament 2016.

A day after posting the Dunk of the Decade, Kazemi cut into the lane, got a pass from Haddadi, and forced the ball in with two hands despite a decent block attempt by Mexico's Israel Gutierrez.

 

 

While the defensive mindset is much appreciated, is it possible the Gutierrez might have missed the part in the scouting report about that guy that dunked all over a 7-footer a game earlier?

Prince of Posters

Maybe the two OQT 2016 poster slams aren't enough to convince you that Kazemi is worthy of that "Prince of Posters" moniker. Well, there's more where those came from.

In Iran's first game of the World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, the "Prince" crowned Iraq's Ali Hameed with a vicious full contact one-hander that left the rim (and Hameed) shaking.

 

Literally for the win

Iran were having some trouble with Qatar in their second clash at the World Cup Qualifiers, tied 75-75 with only seconds to go. It seemed as if the game was headed into overtime when Behnam Yakhchali missed a baseline jumper that would have given Iran a lead.

Arsalan Kazemi, one of the best rebounders in Asia, somehow quietly snuck into the paint and put the ball back in the basket with a two-handed slam to get Iran the W.

 

In retrospect, if Arsalan doesn't make this dunk and Iran losses in overtime, there's a possibility that Team Melli might not have even made it to the World Cup where they eventually qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. This might not be the "loudest" dunk compared to the others on the list, but it had a big impact.

Bonus: Still, Arsalan is Arsalan. He had his poster moment in this game as well when he jammed a powerful one-hander through a determined Nasser Al-Reyes. The entire game was a dunk highlight reel for Kazemi who finished with 4 total slams.

Versatility

Okay, so the point has been driven that Kazemi can posterize defenders. That seems clear. But there's more in Kazemi's bag of dunking tricks.

Against India in Iran's opening game of Asia Cup 2017, Kazemi rose high up in the sky to throw down an alleyoop pass from Yakhchali over Satnam Singh just to show off his springs. We all appreciate Kazemi cocking back his two handed throw down just a bit for aesthetic pleasure.

 

Clear the for takeoff

What we've learned from making this list is that even when there's a defender in front of him, Kazemi will try to find a way to slam it in. However, when there's a wide open runway with barely any obstruction from the opposition?

The Asian "King of Dunks" will gladly take flight from only one step inside the free throw line to rock the rim.

 

Anatoliy Kolesnikov had one block in that game, but he made a business decision here in not attempting to get another one.

FIBA