Dunking. One of the most notable features of basketball. As a regular world “tall” person who played basketball, I would often be asked if I could dunk by non-basketball people trying to strike up a conversation about the game. At 6ft3 and of average athleticism the answer would usually be, “sometimes, no i’m not going to show you”. In the NBA though, it’s just part of the game, most NBA players can dunk if given an open lane. Many of them can dunk quite comfortably regardless of how open the lane is. It’s an eye popping feat of athleticism that most normal humans can only stand rooted to the ground and marvel at. Some players, though, dunk a lot more than others.
Who has the most Dunks in NBA History? Since the statistic was officially tracked in 1996, the player with the most NBA Regular season Dunks is Dwight Howard. At the end of the 2023 season he had made 2,950 dunks, leading second placed and retired Shaquille O’neal (2,626) by 324. Dwight Howard (3,252) leads Shaq (3,200) by just 52 dunks when Playoffs and Regular season are combined. Lebron James is the active player with the most dunks in both the Regular & Post Season with 2,107 (4th) and 353 (2nd). [updated for close of 2022-23 season]
It is worth noting that Shaq managed this feat in far fewer games, averaging 3.1 dunks per regular season game. While Dwight managed ‘only’ 2.8. Let’s break down the all time leaders of dunks a bit further.
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Regular Season Career Dunk leaders (since 1996)
The table below shows the 30 All time regular season dunk leaders as of the end of the 2022 season. We have included the numbers up to 30 as the 31st ranked player Samuel Dalembert retired 2 dunks shy of 1,000 on 998. The statistics only go back to 1996, because that is when Dunk shots were tracked recorded consistently across the league as a seperate entity to field goals.
| Most NBA Dunks in History (tracked since 1996) – Regular Season | ||||||
| Rank | Player | Games | Dunks | Dunks Per-Game | Assisted | Assisted % |
| 1 | Dwight Howard | 1,056 | 2,950 | 2.8 | 2,093 | 70.9% |
| 2 | Shaquille O’Neal | 835 | 2,626 | 3.1 | 1,804 | 68.7% |
| 3 | DeAndre Jordan | 885 | 2,366 | 2.7 | 1,954 | 82.6% |
| 4 | LeBron James | 1,080 | 2,107 | 2.0 | 1,347 | 63.9% |
| 5 | Rudy Gobert | 601 | 1,822 | 3.0 | 1,471 | 80.7% |
| 6 | Tyson Chandler | 819 | 1,735 | 2.1 | 1,405 | 81.0% |
| 7 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 601 | 1,682 | 2.8 | 1,040 | 61.8% |
| 8 | Amar’e Stoudemire | 667 | 1,593 | 2.4 | 1,177 | 73.9% |
| 9 | Anthony Davis | 579 | 1,529 | 2.6 | 1,185 | 77.5% |
| 10 | Andre Iguodala | 811 | 1,506 | 1.9 | 1,121 | 74.4% |
| 11 | Shawn Marion | 784 | 1,482 | 1.9 | 1,225 | 82.7% |
| 12 | Kevin Durant | 739 | 1,394 | 1.9 | 994 | 71.3% |
| 13 | JaVale McGee | 629 | 1,387 | 2.2 | 1,100 | 79.3% |
| 14 | Pau Gasol | 747 | 1,374 | 1.8 | 1,086 | 79.0% |
| 15 | Kevin Garnett | 812 | 1,344 | 1.7 | 1,071 | 79.7% |
| 16 | Clint Capela | 469 | 1,325 | 2.8 | 1,204 | 90.9% |
| 17 | Andre Drummond | 616 | 1,325 | 2.2 | 1,009 | 76.2% |
| 18 | Kenyon Martin | 579 | 1,278 | 2.2 | 984 | 77.0% |
| 19 | Nenê | 643 | 1,224 | 1.9 | 984 | 80.4% |
| 20 | Tim Duncan | 710 | 1,145 | 1.6 | 853 | 74.5% |
| 21 | Blake Griffin | 484 | 1,099 | 2.3 | 850 | 77.3% |
| 22 | Dwyane Wade | 613 | 1,098 | 1.8 | 644 | 58.7% |
| 23 | Josh Smith | 588 | 1,069 | 1.8 | 797 | 74.6% |
| 24 | Mason Plumlee | 537 | 1,069 | 2.0 | 870 | 81.4% |
| 25 | Rasheed Wallace | 573 | 1,050 | 1.8 | 849 | 80.9% |
| 26 | Rudy Gay | 618 | 1,050 | 1.7 | 662 | 63.0% |
| 27 | Carmelo Anthony | 559 | 1,024 | 1.8 | 778 | 76.0% |
| 28 | Ben Wallace | 585 | 1,012 | 1.7 | 748 | 73.9% |
| 29 | Chris Webber | 500 | 1,012 | 2.0 | 781 | 77.2% |
| 30 | Kobe Bryant | 642 | 1,001 | 1.6 | 585 | 58.4% |
We said last time that number 13, Kevin Durrant had the opportunity to pass Pau Gasol as he was trailing by 17 Dunks going into the 2022-23 season. He has done that now sitting in12th place.
Anthony Davis had a chance to crack the top 10 last season, he needed just 91 dunks to pass the retired Shawn Marion. Davis recorded 138 to also leapfrog Andre Igoudala into 9th place.
Giannis had the third most dunks in 2022-23 and gained a few places, passing Amare Stoudemire into 7th place all time. Entering the season he averaged a massive 2.7 dunks per game, in 2022-23 Giannis pushed this to 3.5 dunks per game. It should not take the Greek Freak long to climb into the top 5 at that rate.
Lebron James sits in 4th place, it is unlikely that he will be able to pass (barely) active Deandre Jordan or retired Shaq now that he is aging gracefully into a more perimeter based game, but never bet against the King! In 2022-23 he recorded 74 regular season dunks, not bad for a washed guy.
We’ll check back in before the start of next season to see who’s moved up!
Regular Season vs Playoff Dunks – NBA History
As you’ll probably know, when people talk about all time leaders in the NBA, it is by default assumed they are just talking about the regular season. Unless specifically stated otherwise this doesn’t count the Playoffs. So let’s do that, after all, dunking a lot in the playoffs is surely a more impressive feat!
| Most NBA Dunks in History (tracked since 1996) – NBA Playoffs | ||||||
| Rank | Player | Games | Dunks | Dunks Per–Game | Assisted | Assisted % |
| 1 | Shaquille O’Neal | 173 | 574 | 3.3 | 379 | 66.0% |
| 2 | LeBron James | 206 | 353 | 1.7 | 221 | 62.6% |
| 3 | Dwight Howard | 105 | 302 | 2.9 | 211 | 69.9% |
| 4 | Tim Duncan | 147 | 237 | 1.6 | 188 | 79.3% |
| 5 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 70 | 222 | 3.2 | 136 | 61.3% |
| 6 | Andre Iguodala | 114 | 205 | 1.8 | 155 | 75.6% |
| 7 | Kevin Durant | 115 | 195 | 1.7 | 143 | 73.3% |
| 8 | Dwyane Wade | 110 | 179 | 1.6 | 92 | 51.4% |
| 9 | Clint Capela | 69 | 167 | 2.4 | 155 | 92.8% |
| 10 | Ben Wallace | 86 | 164 | 1.9 | 118 | 72.0% |
| 11 | Rudy Gobert | 49 | 159 | 3.2 | 133 | 83.6% |
| 12 | Kenyon Martin | 82 | 155 | 1.9 | 114 | 73.5% |
| 13 | Pau Gasol | 82 | 152 | 1.9 | 115 | 75.7% |
| 14 | Kobe Bryant | 106 | 147 | 1.4 | 85 | 57.8% |
| 15 | Anthony Davis | 47 | 141 | 3.0 | 112 | 79.4% |
| 16 | Amar’e Stoudemire | 57 | 140 | 2.5 | 99 | 70.7% |
| 17 | DeAndre Jordan | 50 | 138 | 2.8 | 116 | 84.1% |
| 18 | Serge Ibaka | 78 | 130 | 1.7 | 101 | 77.7% |
| 19 | Richard Jefferson | 76 | 128 | 1.7 | 101 | 78.9% |
| 20 | Kawhi Leonard | 80 | 127 | 1.6 | 65 | 51.2% |
| 21 | Bam Adebayo | 59 | 126 | 2.1 | 93 | 73.8% |
| 22 | Shawn Marion | 66 | 126 | 1.9 | 105 | 83.3% |
| 23 | Al Horford | 82 | 125 | 1.5 | 96 | 76.8% |
| 24 | Rasheed Wallace | 76 | 120 | 1.6 | 90 | 75.0% |
| 25 | Kevin Garnett | 77 | 110 | 1.4 | 88 | 80.0% |
| 26 | Tyson Chandler | 50 | 108 | 2.2 | 89 | 82.4% |
| 27 | Chris Webber | 55 | 97 | 1.8 | 68 | 70.1% |
| 28 | Brook Lopez | 51 | 96 | 1.9 | 80 | 83.3% |
| 29 | Jimmy Butler | 57 | 93 | 1.6 | 62 | 66.7% |
| 30 | Tristan Thompson | 57 | 93 | 1.6 | 72 | 77.4% |
As you might expect, 3x Finals MVP and regular season Dunk leader The Big Diesel, dominates playoff dunks. There is a high chance that no one will catch him. If any current player was going to then the best candidate is Giannis. His impressive 2.7 dunks per game in the regular season leaps to 3.2 in the Playoffs. Shaq, not to be outdone, saw his massive 3.1 dunks per game leap to 3.3 for the Playoffs across his career. While Giannis may eventually manage to muster more games, it seems unlikely that Giannis will be able to keep that pace up long enough to catch Shaq. It is clear that since 1996 (and probably ever) Shaquille O’neal has been the most dominant dunker in the NBA.
Most Dunks in a single NBA Game
The player with the most Dunks in a single NBA game is Shaq. During his legendary career he made 11 dunks 3 times, all for the Lakers. No other NBA player has ever made more than 10 dunks in a game.
The top 20 single game dunk totals are listed below. Active players highlughted in bold.
| Rank | Player | Date | For | H/R | Against | Made Dunks |
| 1 | Shaquille O’Neal | 3/6/2000 | LAL | @ | LAC | 11 |
| 2 | Shaquille O’Neal | 3/19/2002 | LAL | @ | DAL | 11 |
| 3 | Shaquille O’Neal | 3/21/2003 | LAL | BOS | 11 | |
| 4 | Clint Capela | 12/11/2017 | HOU | NOP | 10 | |
| 5 | Dwight Howard | 11/23/2007 | ORL | CHA | 10 | |
| 6 | Montrezl Harrell | 12/1/2021 | WAS | MIN | 10 | |
| 7 | DeAndre Jordan | 1/21/2009 | LAC | LAL | 10 | |
| 8 | Shaquille O’Neal | 3/26/2003 | LAL | @ | HOU | 10 |
| 9 | Rudy Gobert | 3/2/2022 | UTA | @ | HOU | 10 |
| 10 | Shaquille O’Neal | 11/29/2002 | LAL | @ | MEM | 9 |
| 11 | Dwight Howard | 2/25/2011 | ORL | OKC | 9 | |
| 12 | Andre Drummond | 11/25/2014 | DET | @ | MIL | 9 |
| 13 | Dwight Howard | 2/20/2008 | ORL | @ | TOR | 9 |
| 14 | Shaquille O’Neal | 4/15/2002 | LAL | SEA | 9 | |
| 15 | DeAndre Jordan | 1/2/2016 | LAC | PHI | 9 | |
| 16 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 3/24/2019 | MIL | CLE | 9 | |
| 17 | Shaquille O’Neal | 1/22/2002 | LAL | DEN | 9 | |
| 18 | Dwight Howard | 11/28/2007 | ORL | @ | SEA | 9 |
It is clear from this table just how dominant Shaq was. As well as holding the top 3 spots, he holds 4 more, giving him 7 of the top 20 spots. Every other player on the list is still active in the NBA. Dwight Howard also appears on the list 4 times. (all data taken from 1996 onwards).
The Unassisted Dunk
Let’s face it, that list is dominated by big men, while that’s exciting, there’s nothing as exciting as watching a small forward or guard weave through the lane and throw one down in traffic. Often this type of dunk is “unassisted”, so let’s sort all the leading dunkers by % of Dunks that didn’t get an assist. That should give us a list of some of the most exciting dunkers in the NBA since 1996.
| All Time NBA Leaders | |||
| Rank | Player | Dunks | Assist % |
| 1 | Russell Westbrook | 595 | 47% |
| 2 | Kobe Bryant | 1001 | 58% |
| 3 | Dwyane Wade | 1098 | 59% |
| 4 | Vince Carter | 941 | 61% |
| 5 | Tracy McGrady | 732 | 62% |
| 6 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 1484 | 63% |
| 7 | Rudy Gay | 1039 | 63% |
| 8 | LeBron James | 2033 | 64% |
| 9 | Brendan Haywood | 799 | 64% |
| 10 | Trevor Ariza | 613 | 66% |
That’s more like it, Westbrook, Kobe, Wade, Vince, Tracy… explosive one on one players that got mega jams at the rim, over and over again. You’ll notice the absence of key names Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’neal, who would have taken assists on a great many of their dunks.
You’ll notice the presence of two names. Lebron and Giannis. High on the regular season list, high on the playoff list and high on the unassisted list. Pure. Dunk. Machines.