Marquese Chriss Summer League Highlights
All who watched Marquese Chriss play in the Las Vegas Summer League got a glimpse of the high-flying acrobatics that enticed the Suns into acquiring the top-10 pick on draft night.
Chriss, who has been compared to the likes of Serge Ibaka and Amar'e Stoudemire, has an above-the-rim appetite fueled by a 38.5-inch vertical leap and freak athleticism rivaled by few.
That's why SI.com's FanSided recently recruited Chriss to serve as a judge for its list of the 30 greatest dunks in NBA history.
In case you're wondering, two Suns dunks made the cut - Kevin Johnson's jam over Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1994 playoffs (No. 11) and Tom Chambers' climb over Mark Jackson in 1989 (No. 6).
After lending a hand on the experts' panel, Chriss took the time to speak about his own dunking prowess as he nears the start of his rookie campaign with the Suns.
The 19-year-old mentioned Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal as his favorite dunkers growing up. To this day, Chriss still surprises himself with some of the stunts he can pull off midair.
"I mean, I’m getting used to it right now but there’s dunks I do where I kind of catch myself off guard," Chriss said. "You gotta act like you’ve done it before and just keep a straight face. It’s crazy for me, being able to do that and it’s just an easy way to score, it’s the best part."
Chriss has only competed in a couple dunk contests before - both in high school before he could jump like he can now. A future invitation to the NBA's dunk contest would be a different animal.
"I love watching them. I think it’s entertaining to see people’s creativity and people like Zach (LaVine) who can jump from the (free-throw) line easy, that’s just crazy to watch," Chriss said. "I think people are kind of getting so accustomed to seeing things like that, that they don’t appreciate it as much. But from my standpoint, it’s crazy to see the stuff that they’re doing and how easy they’re making it look."
As for what Chriss hopes to accomplish in his first NBA season, the forward wants to prove he's a complete, all-around player. And he might have an opportunity early on to do just that with P.J. Tucker recovering from back surgery.
"Everything. I’m working on all aspects of my game, just to widen people’s opinion of me that I’m not just a dunker but that I’m actually able to create for myself," Chriss said.