Nike's basketball shoe line was fairly popular in the skateboarding scene, and the Dunk soon became a popular shoe for riders due to the stability and lower profile sole which improved grounding performance. After some time, Nike created a Dunk specifically for skateboarders, known as the Nike SB Dunk. It features an extra-padded "puffy tongue" (common among skateboarding sneakers) and Nike's patented Zoom Air insole. Since then, the SB Dunk has become a popular subcultural icon for so-called sneakerheads, or enthusiastic sneaker-collectors. Nike currently collaborates with many designers to create special edition and collectible dunks, from Diamond Hardware's Nick Tershay to the popular graffiti artist known as Futura.

As of now, the Dunk SB line is in its fifth series, sporting a new black and royal-blue box. Amongst the first fifth series SB Dunks are the "Send Helps", designed by Todd Bratrud, "Eires", by Liam Sean Martin, and "Volcanoes"(also known as Pele's), which are designed after state of Hawaii.

The SB Dunk is sold to stores for fairly low prices, frequently retailing anywhere between $65.00-$99.00. However, since they are popular among collectors and skateboarders alike, stores tend to raise the prices on the shoes based on how high the demand is. This happens when a shoe is "hyped" up, or overly talked about and anticipated, therefore bought at much higher prices by the masses than suggested retail. Hype is considered "dangerous" by many sneaker enthusiasts, due to the fact that Nike has lowered the quality of materials and manufacturing for the Nike SB Dunk since the first generation of shoes were released, whereas the prices of the shoes sold by stores hike higher and higher; some of the more rare, "limited", or hyped shoes sell for over a thousand dollars a pair. During many releases of limited dunks, long lines have been known to form. At one specific store in New York during the release of the infamous "Pigeon" dunk, a riot formed. The New York City Police Department contacted taxi cab services to escort those lucky few who actually were able to receive the sneaker, and after the rowdy crowds dispersed, knives and baseball bats were among the utencils found laying in the streets.