2008-09 Slam Dunk Stats

Your 2008-2009 NBA Slam Dunk Stats are finally here, sorted in more ways than you can shake a stick at. Can you guess which of these players was NOT in the Top 5 in total dunks?

First, I will list all of the 353 NBA players who recorded at least 1 dunk this past season. For easier viewing, I’ve separated them into descending groups and added comments where I see fit.

After that, you’ll find the following special categories:

~Most Minutes Played Without a Dunk
~Tallest Players Without a Dunk
~Most Dunks by Players Under 6′4
~Largest Improvements from 2007-08
~Largest Declines from 2007-08
~Most Dunks by Rookies
~Most Dunks by Players Over 30
~Most Dunks Per Game
~Most Dunks Per Minute
~Most Dunks by a Team
~Fewest Dunks by a Team
~1+ Dunk and 1+ Three Club

120+ Dunks (#1 – 10)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
1	Dwight Howard	202
2	Shaquille O'Neal	180
3	Andre Iguodala	152
4	Nene	142
5	Emeka Okafor	135
6	Brook Lopez	130
7	Ronnie Brewer	128
7	LeBron James	128
9	Dwyane Wade	126
10	Pau Gasol	120

Not surprisingly, Dwight Howard led the league in dunks once again, but he had 65 fewer this season, which was one of the largest declines in the league (more on that below). A rejuvenated Shaq showed that he has plenty left in the tank by finishing 2nd, while Iguodala was the top dunking non-big man for (at least) the 2nd year in a row. Nene was also a beast inside with 142 jams, followed closely by Okafor and Brook Lopez. Ronnie Brewer cracked the Top 10 for the 2nd year in a row, finishing just ahead of Wade and tied with LeBron. That’s right, LeBron James was NOT in the Top 5, and he actually had fewer dunks last season (when he was 12th). Pau rounds out the Top 10, with more than 3 times as many jams as his younger brother.

100+ Dunks (#11 – 20)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
11	Rudy Gay	118
12	Kevin Durant	114
13	Amare Stoudemire	109
14	Kenyon Martin	108
15	LaMarcus Aldridge	107
16	Tyrus Thomas	106
17	Hakim Warrick	104
18	David Lee	103
19	Josh Smith	102
20	Andrew Bynum	100

The former University of Texas stars (Durant and Aldridge) ranked 25th and 27th respectively in total dunks in ‘07-08, so they clearly made some strides on offense this past season. Both Amare and Bynum were in the Top 4 in Dunks per Game (see below), but injuries obviously hurt them here. This is somewhat shocking since he played 468 more minutes and scored 417 more points, but David Lee only had 1 more dunk than the season before.

75+ Dunks (#21 – 32)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
21	Greg Oden	99
22	Jason Thompson	91
23	Tyson Chandler	89
23	Shawn Marion	89
25	Jason Maxiell	88
26	Joakim Noah	86
27	Samuel Dalembert	84
28	Marreese Speights	81
29	Chris Bosh	80
29	JaVale McGee	80
31	Paul Millsap	79
32	Yao Ming	76

Check out the unheralded Kings rookie Jason Thompson giving #1 pick Greg Oden a run for his money! Chandler, Marion, and Dalembert all had 130+ dunks last year, so this shows how disappointing their ‘08-09 seasons were. With more minutes in store for them, Joakim Noah and Millsap will likely move into the Top 20 next season. Who knew that rookie phenoms Speights and McGee threw down more dunks than Yao this past season? His name won’t show up on the “Largest Declines” list, but Ming actually had 7 more dunks last year in 22 fewer games.

60+ Dunks (#33 – 52)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
33	Al Thornton	73
34	Brandon Bass	72
35	Erick Dampier	69
35	Al Horford	69
37	Kevin Garnett	68
37	Thaddeus Young	68
39	Nick Collison	67
39	Jason Richardson	67
41	Trevor Ariza	66
41	Andris Biedrins	66
41	Chris Wilcox	66
44	Carl Landry	65
45	Chris Andersen	64
45	Carmelo Anthony	64
47	Jeff Green	61
47	Andrei Kirilenko	61
47	Joel Przybilla	61
50	Hilton Armstrong	60
50	Spencer Hawes	60
50	DeAndre Jordan	60

With Thornton, Thaddeus, and Trevor Ariza, the top part of this group is loaded with young slashing forwards on the rise. If they hadn’t missed so many games with injuries, surely Garnett, Biedrins, and Anthony would have had 75+ stuffs. Nick Collison actually had 3 more dunks than Chris Andersen, but when you factor in style points and crowd effect, there’s no question whose jams had a larger impact on the game.

40+ Dunks (#53 – 76)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
53	Kobe Bryant	59
53	Gerald Wallace	59
53	Russell Westbrook	59
56	Travis Outlaw	57
57	Jamario Moon	56
58	Kendrick Perkins	52
59	Richard Jefferson	51
59	Anthony Randolph	51
61	Darrell Arthur	50
61	Jermaine O'Neal	50
63	Andray Blatche	48
63	Charlie Villanueva	48
65	Joey Graham	47
65	Leon Powe	47
65	Tayshaun Prince	47
68	Vince Carter	46
69	Linas Kleiza	45
69	C.J. Miles	45
69	Ronny Turiaf	45
72	Sean Marks	43
73	Andrea Bargnani	40
73	Wilson Chandler	40
73	Darko Milicic	40
73	Anderson Varejao	40

After ranking 30th in the NBA with 80 dunks last year, Kobe fell to 53rd with only 59 jams in ‘08-09. Are the 40,000+ minutes he’s played in his NBA career starting to catch up to him? G-Wallace, Moon, Perkins, R-Jeff, Prince, Vince, and Kleiza also saw their dunk numbers decline from last season. Keep reading for more on guys like Russell Westbrook and Anthony Randolph.

30+ Dunks (#77 – 104)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
77	Nicolas Batum	39
77	Rodney Carney	39
77	Marc Gasol	39
80	Andrew Bogut	38
81	Louis Amundson	37
81	Al Jefferson	37
81	Kevin Love	37
84	Maurice Evans	36
84	O.J. Mayo	36
84	Lamar Odom	36
87	Dan Gadzuric	35
87	Roy Hibbert	35
87	Ryan Hollins	35
87	David West	35
91	Marcus Camby	34
91	J.J. Hickson	34
91	Dominic McGuire	34
91	Julian Wright	34
95	Renaldo Balkman	33
95	Udonis Haslem	33
97	Michael Beasley	32
97	Amir Johnson	32
97	Mikki Moore	32
97	Marvin Williams	32
101	Tony Battie	31
101	Corey Maggette	31
101	Mehmet Okur	31
101	James Singleton	31

Al Jefferson only played 50 games this season, but his dunks per game average also fell from 1.16 to just .74. A year ago I gave a “Shout out to Dominic McGuire for throwing down 4 more dunks than Jamison in 2,367 fewer minutes,” and he responded with 34 slams while playing a much bigger role for the Wizards. Only 32 dunks for #2 pick Michael Beasley? This requires further examination below…

20+ Dunks (#105 – 140)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
105	Kelenna Azubuike	29
105	Caron Butler	29
105	Rasual Butler	29
105	Eric Gordon	29
105	Dahntay Jones	29
105	Mickael Pietrus	29
105	Brandan Wright	29
112	Josh Boone	28
112	Brandon Roy	28
112	J.R. Smith	28
115	Al Harrington	27
115	Nick Young	27
117	Rudy Fernandez	26
117	Luc Mbah a Moute	26
119	Kwame Brown	25
119	Luol Deng	25
119	Jamaal Magloire	25
119	Troy Murphy	25
119	John Salmons	25
119	Von Wafer	25
125	Tim Duncan	24
125	Robin Lopez	24
127	Grant Hill	23
127	Ben Wallace	23
129	Solomon Jones	22
129	Kevin Martin	22
129	Ronald Murray	22
129	Yi Jianlian	22
133	Francisco Elson	21
133	Pops Mensah-Bonsu	21
135	Matt Barnes	20
135	Carlos Boozer	20
135	Keyon Dooling	20
135	Danny Granger	20
135	Desmond Mason	20
135	Lou Williams	20

Despite playing in 9 more games this season, Caron Butler’s total number of dunks dropped from 61 to 29! Tim Duncan also saw a big decline, going from 43 to 24. And while Troy Murphy was a double-double machine this past season, his dunks actually fell from 37 to 25. Props to Pops Mensah-Bonsu for throwing down 21 jams in just 283 total minutes!

10+ Dunks (#141 – 205)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
141	Chris Kaman	19
141	Courtney Lee	19
141	Derrick Rose	19
141	Joe Smith	19
145	Tony Allen	18
145	Ryan Anderson	18
145	Shannon Brown	18
145	Mike Miller	18
149	Joel Anthony	17
149	Marquis Daniels	17
149	DeSagana Diop	17
149	Drew Gooden	17
149	Stephen Jackson	17
149	Jared Jeffries	17
149	Rashard Lewis	17
149	Shelden Williams	17
157	Elton Brand	16
157	Patrick O'Bryant	16
157	Josh Powell	16
157	Vladimir Radmanovic	16
157	Thabo Sefolosha	16
157	Tim Thomas	16
157	Rasheed Wallace	16
164	Randy Foye	15
164	Stephen Graham	15
164	Kosta Koufos	15
164	Theo Ratliff	15
164	Brandon Rush	15
169	Joe Alexander	14
169	Glen Davis	14
169	Boris Diaw	14
169	Jeff Foster	14
169	Francisco Garcia	14
169	Marcin Gortat	14
169	Zydrunas Ilgauskas	14
169	Rashad McCants	14
169	Dirk Nowitzki	14
169	Anthony Parker	14
169	Rajon Rondo	14
169	Bill Walker	14
181	Nenad Krstic	13
181	Rasho Nesterovic	13
181	Zaza Pachulia	13
181	Johan Petro	13
181	Etan Thomas	13
186	Javaris Crittenton	12
186	Brendan Haywood	12
186	Antawn Jamison	12
186	James Posey	12
186	Ramon Sessions	12
191	Ron Artest	11
191	Melvin Ely	11
191	Kyrylo Fesenko	11
191	Sean Williams	11
195	Mario Chalmers	10
195	Gerald Green	10
195	George Hill	10
195	Josh Howard	10
195	Antonio McDyess	10
195	Brad Miller	10
195	Sasha Pavlovic	10
195	Paul Pierce	10
195	Ronnie Price	10
195	Craig Smith	10
195	Delonte West	10

This group features several big men who play major minutes but would rather shoot jumpers: Rashard Lewis, Rasheed Wallace, Ilgauskas, Nowitzki, etc. To me, the biggest surprises are Ron Artest (11), Josh Howard (10), and Paul Pierce (10). Don’t you think that these three All-Star caliber small forwards are capable of more than 31 dunks combined?

5+ Dunks (#206 – 254)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
206	Jerryd Bayless	9
206	Jordan Farmar	9
206	Ben Gordon	9
206	Aaron Gray	9
206	Donte Greene	9
206	Andres Nocioni	9
206	Stromile Swift	9
206	Jason Terry	9
214	Daequan Cook	8
214	Monta Ellis	8
214	Reggie Evans	8
214	Malik Hairston	8
214	Darnell Jackson	8
214	Anthony Johnson	8
214	Joe Johnson	8
214	Quentin Richardson	8
214	Brian Skinner	8
214	Kyle Weaver	8
224	Ryan Gomes	7
224	Willie Green	7
224	Darius Miles	7
224	Nazr Mohammed	7
224	Luis Scola	7
224	Robert Swift	7
224	Deron Williams	7
231	Maceo Baston	6
231	Michael Finley	6
231	Channing Frye	6
231	Jarvis Hayes	6
231	Kris Humphries	6
231	Fred Jones	6
231	D.J. Mbenga	6
231	Zach Randoloph	6
231	Bobby Simmons	6
231	Mario West	6
241	Malik Allen	5
241	Bobby Brown	5
241	Mike Conley	5
241	Jermareo Davidson	5
241	Trenton Hassell	5
241	Oleksiy Pecherov	5
241	Brian Scalabrine	5
241	Rodney Stuckey	5
241	Mike Taylor	5
241	Alando Tucker	5
241	Hedo Turkoglu	5
241	Luke Walton	5
241	Damien Wilkins	5
241	Antoine Wright	5

This group is a hodgepodge of athletic guards, flat-footed big men, and guys who got limited playing time.

2+ Dunks (#255 – 308)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
255	Matt Bonner	4
255	Corey Brewer	4
255	Devin Brown	4
255	Mardy Collins	4
255	Antonio Daniels	4
255	Paul Davis	4
255	Chris Douglas-Roberts	4
255	Devean George	4
255	Hamed Haddadi	4
255	Walter Herrmann	4
255	Michael Redd	4
255	Nate Robinson	4
255	Cedric Simmons	4
255	Ime Udoka	4
269	Alexis Ajinca	3
269	Ray Allen	3
269	Raja Bell	3
269	Mark Blount	3
269	Will Bynum	3
269	Jason Collins	3
269	Baron Davis	3
269	Yakhouba Diawara	3
269	Goran Dragic	3
269	Raymond Felton	3
269	Danilo Gallinari	3
269	Manu Ginobili	3
269	Tarence Kinsey	3
269	Kyle Korver	3
269	Josh McRoberts	3
269	Chris Paul	3
269	Darius Songaila	3
269	Wally Szczerbiak	3
269	Sasha Vujacic	3
288	Brent Barry	2
288	Shane Battier	2
288	Jose Calderon	2
288	Austin Croshere	2
288	Ike Diogu	2
288	Richard Hamilton	2
288	Juwan Howard	2
288	Jarrett Jack	2
288	Shaun Livingston	2
288	Donyell Marshall	2
288	Tracy McGrady	2
288	Chris Mihm	2
288	Cuttino Mobley	2
288	Eduardo Najera	2
288	Mouhamed Sene	2
288	Will Solomon	2
288	Jerry Stackhouse	2
288	Anthony Tolliver	2
288	D.J. White	2
288	Dorell Wright	2
288	Lorenzon Wright	2

Players who will surely rise next season include Corey Brewer, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Will Bynum. Can Tracy McGrady still throw it down? Yes, but just barely (2 dunks).

1 Dunk (#309 – 353)

Rank	Player	# of Dunks
309	Hassan Adams	1
309	Arron Afflalo	1
309	Maurice Ager	1
309	Morris Almond	1
309	Marco Belinelli	1
309	Charlie Bell	1
309	Bruce Bowen	1
309	Ryan Bowen	1
309	Aaron Brooks	1
309	Greg Buckner	1
309	Anthony Carter	1
309	Brian Cook	1
309	Joe Crawford	1
309	Joey Dorsey	1
309	Quincy Douby	1
309	Jared Dudley	1
309	Mike Dunleavy Jr.	1
309	Daniel Gibson	1
309	Matt Harpring	1
309	Larry Hughes	1
309	Othello Hunter	1
309	Dontell Jefferson	1
309	Acie Law	1
309	Sean May	1
309	Adam Morrison	1
309	Dikembe Mutombo	1
309	Gabe Pruitt	1
309	Shavlik Randolph	1
309	Jeremy Richardson	1
309	Malik Rose	1
309	Quinton Ross	1
309	Michael Ruffin	1
309	Walter Sharpe	1
309	Jake Voskuhl	1
309	C.J. Watson	1
309	Earl Watson	1
309	Sonny Weems	1
309	Jawad Williams	1
309	Shawne Williams	1
348	Peja Stojakovic	1
349	T.J. Ford	1
350	Devin Harris	1
351	Roger Mason Jr.	1
352	Chauncey Billups	1
353	Chris Duhon	1

44 players were able to throw down just 1 official dunk this past season. Note how I singled out the 6 players at the bottom. How come? Well, Duhon (2,906), Billups (2,789), Mason (2,496), Harris (2,494), Ford (2,258), and Stojakovic (2,089) played the most minutes out of this group, meaning that a dunk from one of them was an extremely rare occurence.

NOW BREAK IT DOWN!

Most Minutes Played Without a Dunk

Rank	Player	Minutes Played
1	Andre Miller	2,976
2	Jason Kidd	2,886
3	Mo Williams	2,834
4	Mike Bibby	2,740
5	Steve Nash	2,484
6	Jamal Crawford	2,479
7	Tony Parker	2,456
8	Rafer Alston	2,447
9	Derek Fisher	2,441
10	Beno Udrih	2,270
11	Steve Blake	2,188
12	Sebastian Telfair	2,095
13	Allen Iverson	2,093
14	Luke Ridnour	2,033
15	D.J. Augustin	1,908
16	Jason Kapono	1,831
17	Leandro Barbosa	1,705
18	Kyle Lowry	1,679
19	Mike James	1,649
20	Jose Juan Barea	1,600

The 33-year old Andre Miller played 82 games and nearly 3,000 minutes this past season, but still failed to get a dunk. At least he got 1 slam last season, which can’t be said for Kidd, Mo Williams, Bibby, and Nash. Jamal Crawford’s name is a bit of a surprise because he had 6 dunks last year and clearly has the length and athleticism to throw it down. Almost all of these guys are point guards, unlike the names on the next list…

Tallest Players Without a Dunk

Rank	Player	Height	Minutes Played
1	Steve Novak	6-10	1,161
2	Fabricio Oberto	6-10	677
3	Kurt Thomas	6-9	1,404
4	Jason Kapono	6-8	1,831
5	Brian Cardinal	6-8	909
6	James Jones	6-8	630
7	Marko Jaric	6-7	605
8	Morris Peterson	6-7	515

According to my research, these not so elite 8 are the only players over 6-foot-6 who played 500+ minutes and STILL did not record a dunk this past season. Steve Novak takes the cake for being 6′10 and playing over 1,100 minutes without a flush. Of course, as a 42% 3-point shooter, Novak is still a very efficient scorer. Oberto and Kurt Thomas are a different breed however, as neither man camps outside the 3-point line. Leave it to the Spurs to have TWO BIG MEN on this list!

I guess it doesn’t surprise me that Kapono and Cardinal didn’t get a jam, but whats up with James Jones? The guy has a 7-foot-2 wingspan and a 33″ vertical, so he’s clearly doing something wrong if he can’t hammer one home. And last but not least is Morris Peterson. If any of you watched the Hornets’ preseason training camp footage, one of the funniest moments was watching Chris Paul clown on Mo-Pete for not being able to throw down a dunk during a layup drill. Classic.

Most Dunks by Players Under 6-foot-4

Rank	Player	# of Dunks	Height
1	Russell Westbrook	59	6-3
2	Eric Gordon	29	6-3
3	Ronald Murray	22	6-3
4	Keyon Dooling	20	6-3
4	Lou Williams	20	6-2
6	Derrick Rose	19	6-3
7	Rajon Rondo	14	6-1
8	Ramon Sessions	12	6-3
9	Mario Chalmers	10	6-1
9	George Hill	10	6-2
9	Ronnie Price	10	6-2
9	Delonte West	10	6-3
13	Jordan Farmar	9	6-2
13	Jason Terry	9	6-2
13	Jerryd Bayless	9	6-3
13	Ben Gordon	9	6-3
17	Monta Ellis	8	6-3
17	Anthony Johnson	8	6-3
19	Willie Green	7	6-3
19	Deron Williams	7	6-3
21	Mike Conley	5	6-1
21	Bobby Brown	5	6-2
21	Mike Taylor	5	6-2
24	Nate Robinson	4	5-9
25	Will Bynum	3	6-0
25	Chris Paul	3	6-0
25	Raymond Felton	3	6-1
25	Baron Davis	3	6-3

Rookies dominated this list, as 5 of the top 10 guys are 1st year players. Leading the charge was Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, who threw down an impressive .72 dunks per game. In my OKC Team Preview posted in September, I said that Westbrook was “the most athletic guard to come out of UCLA since Baron Davis,” and he certainly took that statement and soared with it.

Russell easily took the “Under 6′4″ title away from last year’s winner Monta Ellis, who had just 8 slams in 25 games thanks to a moped accident. Other rookies in the Top 5 were Eric Gordon and Derrick Rose, and surely their dunk stats will continue to rise. Meanwhile, Keyon Dooling, Lou Williams, and Rajon Rondo finished in the Top 7 for the 2nd year in a row, while Ramon Sessions jumped from just 2 slams in ‘07-08 to a solid dozen in ‘08-09.

But what happened to Deron Williams and Chris Paul? After combining for 23 jams in ‘07-08, they totaled just 10 this past season. Meanwhile, veteran guard Anthony Johnson deserves some props for making this list and nearly making the “Over 30″ list as well. In the future, watch out for Jerryd Bayless (9 dunks in 655 minutes), as he played sparingly but has serious hops. And while Nate Robinson (4 dunks) gets most of the love, don’t sleep on Clipper guard Mike Taylor (4 dunks). Taylor nearly won the 2008 D-League Dunk Contest, throws down crazy jams in warmups, and had one of my favorite dunks of the season against Memphis.

In fact, since it’s always fun to watch the “little guys” throw it down, here are my 4 favorite in-game dunks for the ‘08-09 regular season (by guys under 6-foot-4). Watch the clips and then vote for your favorite.

Deron Williams: Explosion past Fisher & Bynum

Russell Westbrook: Off the glass 1-hander on Belinelli

Jerryd Bayless: 2-hand cock-back with ferocity

Mike Taylor: Baseline windmill insanity

Largest Improvements from 2007-08

Rank	Player	# of Dunks in '08-09	# of Dunks in '07-08	Improvement
1	Nene	142	9	+133
2	Dwyane Wade	126	39	+87
3	Shaquille ONeal	180	97	+83
4	Paul Millsap	79	26	+53
5	Tyrus Thomas	106	57	+49
6	Trevor Ariza	66	21	+45
7	Hakim Warrick	104	60	+44
8	Spencer Hawes	60	21	+39
9	Al Thornton	73	35	+38
9	Hilton Armstrong	60	22	+38
9	Joey Graham	47	9	+38
9	Sean Marks	43	5	+38
13	Joakim Noah	86	55	+31
14	Brandon Bass	72	42	+30
14	Anderson Varejao	40	10	+30
16	Wilson Chandler	40	11	+29
17	Kevin Durant	114	87	+27
17	C.J. Miles	45	18	+27
19	Thaddeus Young	68	42	+26
20	Dahntay Jones	29	4	+25
21	Rasual Butler	29	5	+24
21	Von Wafer	25	1	+24
23	LaMarcus Aldridge	107	85	+22
23	Jermaine O'Neal	50	28	+22
25	Dominic McGuire	34	14	+20

Let’s give it up to the Top 3 players on this list, because they really deserve it. The man formerly known as Maybyner Rodney Hilario suffered a major knee injury in 2005 and a cancer scare in 2007, but Nenê has proven to be a serious force around the basket this season. After playing hurt for most of ‘07-08, D. Wade healed up over the summer and had a brilliant season, as the +87 improvement indicates. Meanwhile, what do all of the critics who were calling Shaq “washed up” before the season have to say now?

Millsap and Ariza deserve some props as well for tripling their numbers from a year ago. It took them awhile to get going, but Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah combined for a +80 improvement, and their number of dunks will continue to climb. As you would expect, most of the players on this list also received big gains in playing time, but that wasn’t the case for everyone. In just 275 more minutes than the season before, Hakim Warrick managed to throw down 44 extra dunks!

What was Tyson Chandler’s loss (see below) was Hilton Armstrong and Sean Marks’ gain, as the backup big men combined for 76 more dunks than the season prior. Guys like Dahntay Jones, Rasual Butler, Von Wafer, and Dominic McGuire all deserve credit as well for showing that they can be quite effective when given solid minutes. At +19, LeBron barely missed this list.

Largest Declines from 2007-08

Rank	Player	# of Dunks in '08-09	# of Dunks in '07-08	Decline
1	Tyson Chandler	89	192	-103
2	Amare Stoudemire	109	208	-99
3	Brendan Haywood	12	107	-95
4	Dwight Howard	202	267	-65
5	Mikki Moore	32	96	-64
6	Andrew Bogut	38	100	-62
7	Carmelo Anthony	64	123	-59
7	Monta Ellis	8	67	-59
9	Al Jefferson	37	95	-58
10	Samuel Dalembert	84	135	-51
11	Sean Williams	11	61	-50
12	Josh Boone	28	72	-44
13	Kenyon Martin	108	150	-42
14	Shawn Marion	89	130	-41
14	Tracy McGrady	2	43	-41
16	Carlos Boozer	20	60	-40
17	Richard Jefferson	51	90	-39
17	Marvin Williams	32	71	-39
17	Stromile Swift	9	48	-39
20	Chris Wilcox	66	103	-37
20	Maurice Evans	36	73	-37
22	Mark Blount	3	37	-34
23	Caron Butler	29	61	-32
24	Marcus Camby	34	65	-31
25	Lamar Odom	36	66	-30
25	Drew Gooden	17	47	-30
25	Kris Humphries	6	36	-30

After finishing 3rd in total dunks last season, Tyson Chandler fell off in a big way. Sure he missed a lot of games, but his per game average also fell nearly half a dunk from 2.43 to 1.98. Likewise, Amare’s per game average fell from 2.63 to 2.06, but he can place most of that blame on Terry Porter. You can disregard Haywood’s season since he played just 6 games, but what about Dwight Howard? Mr. Superman saw his dunks fall from 3.26 per game in ‘07-08 to just 2.56 this past season, which explains his FG% decline as well. His number of field goal and free throw attempts were about the same, so did teams do a better job of keeping Howard out of the paint, or was Dwight trying to show a more varied offensive repertoire?

Carmelo Anthony also saw his per game average plummet from 1.60 to just .97, while Dalembert’s fell from 1.65 to 1.02. Shawn Marion also had a major decline, going from 2.06 to 1.29 dunks per game. Some of the players on this list (Sean Williams, Stromile Swift, Mark Blount, Kris Humphries) went from being key rotation guys to barely having an NBA roster spot. Will Andrew Bogut, Al Jefferson, and Tracy McGrady all bounce back from their season-ending injuries? What about Ellis? Will the effects of his ankle injury linger? Will he play mostly point guard and get fewer dunk opportunities? Or will Monta take his “Under 6′4″ title back from Russell Westbrook?

Most Dunks by Rookies

Rank	Player	# of Dunks	Minutes Played
1	Brook Lopez	130	2,501
2	Greg Oden	99	1,314
3	Jason Thompson	91	2,303
4	Marreese Speights	81	1,262
5	JaVale McGee	80	1,143
6	DeAndre Jordan	60	771
7	Russell Westbrook	59	2,668
8	Anthony Randolph	51	1,129
9	Darrell Arthur	50	1,464
10	Nicolas Batum	39	1,454
10	Marc Gasol	39	2,521
12	Kevin Love	37	2,048
13	O.J. Mayo	36	3,120
14	Roy Hibbert	35	1,009
15	J.J. Hickson	34	705
16	Michael Beasley	32	2,009
17	Eric Gordon	29	2,677
18	Rudy Fernandez	26	1,993
18	Luc Mbah a Moute	26	2,114
20	Robin Lopez	24	614
21	Courtney Lee	19	1,939
21	Derrick Rose	19	3,000
23	Ryan Anderson	18	1,312
24	Kosta Koufos	15	565
24	Brandon Rush	15	1,803

Sure, Brook Lopez played a lot of minutes as a rookie, but the fact that he has a sweet midrange jumper and STLL threw down 130 dunks means his future looks bright. Jason Thompson is also a versatile offensive player who performed very well for a #12 pick. They didn’t get a ton of minutes, but Oden, Speights, and McGee still managed to average better than a dunk per game. And how about Clippers center DeAndre Jordan?! With 60 slams in just 771 minutes of action, he was one of the top dunkers per minute (see below).

As the youngest player in the league this past season, hammering down 51 dunks in under 1,200 minutes was pretty impressive for Anthony Randolph. If he works hard, he could be a Top 10 dunker down the road. It’s kind of funny how Love and Mayo were traded for each other and then finished with nearly identical dunk numbers. Another big dude that I like who saw limited action is Cavs rookie JJ Hickson. In 1,304 fewer minutes, Hickson still managed more slams than the highly touted Beasley. In fact, Beasley’s dunk numbers do not compare well with ANY of the power forwards on this list, so he’s probably better off polishing his outside shot and moving over to small forward. All in all, this rookie class featured some very nice athletes with bright futures.

Most Dunks by Players Over 30

Rank	Player	# of Dunks	Age
1	Shaquille O'Neal	180	36
2	Kenyon Martin	108	31
3	Erick Dampier	69	33
4	Kevin Garnett	68	32
5	Vince Carter	46	32
6	Sean Marks	43	33
7	Marcus Camby	34	34
8	Mikki Moore	32	33
9	Tony Battie	31	32
10	Tim Duncan	24	32
11	Grant Hill	23	36
11	Ben Wallace	23	34
13	Francisco Elson	21	32
14	Desmond Mason	20	31
15	Joe Smith	19	33
16	Rasheed Wallace	16	34
16	Tim Thomas	16	31
18	Theo Ratliff	15	35
19	Zydrunas Ilgauskas	14	33
19	Anthony Parker	14	33
19	Jeff Foster	14	32
22	Rasho Nesterovic	13	32
23	Antawn Jamison	12	32
23	James Posey	12	32
25	Paul Pierce	10	31

By NBA standards, these guys are on the wrong side of 30. However, with Shaq leading the way, they’re showing that they can still get the job done. Grant Hill and Theo Ratliff also deserve a special shout out for being the only other 35+ year old players on this list. Rasheed Wallace might retire over the summer, but Ben Wallace still has another year on his contract.

46 dunks for Vince Carter seems rather low, but when you consider his age, it’s not bad at all. Garnett and Duncan are two of the best ever, but their dunk stats continue to decline and one has to wonder how many solid years they have left in them. When you consider that Anthony Parker is 33 years old and Jason Kapono didn’t get a single dunk, maybe the Raptors should go after a young, athletic swingman this summer. I don’t mean to hate on Jeff Foster because he used to have serious hops, but this vid is pretty funny.

Most Dunks Per Game

Rank	Player	# of Dunks	Games Played	Dunks Per Game
1	Dwight Howard	202	79	2.56
2	Shaquille O'Neal	180	75	2.40
3	Amare Stoudemire	109	53	2.06
4	Andrew Bynum	100	50	2.00
5	Tyson Chandler	89	45	1.98
6	Andre Iguodala	152	82	1.85
7	Nene	142	77	1.84
8	Emeka Okafor	135	82	1.65
9	Kenyon Martin	108	66	1.64
10	Greg Oden	99	61	1.62
11	Dwyane Wade	126	79	1.59
12	Brook Lopez	130	82	1.59
13	Ronnie Brewer	128	81	1.58
13	LeBron James	128	81	1.58
15	Kevin Durant	114	74	1.54
16	Rudy Gay	118	79	1.49
17	Pau Gasol	120	81	1.48
18	Josh Smith	102	69	1.48
19	Tyrus Thomas	106	79	1.34
20	LaMarcus Aldridge	107	81	1.32
21	Shawn Marion	89	69	1.29
22	David Lee	103	81	1.27
23	Hakim Warrick	104	82	1.27
24	Kevin Garnett	68	57	1.19
25	Jason Maxiell	88	78	1.13

After ripping the rim 3.26 times per game in ‘07-08, the 2.56 average seems rather weak for the Man-Beast. We still need to find dunk stats for Shaq in his early years, but the fact that he can average 2.4 per game as a 36-year old suggests that he’s had several seasons in the past where he averaged over 3 dunks per game. Amare, Bynum, and Chandler all averaged over 2.4 slams per game in ‘07-08, so they clearly weren’t as dominant this season.

Standing just 6-foot-6, Iguodala’s 1.85 average is awfully impressive. While a #9 ranking for Kenyon Martin seems pretty solid, he was actually 5th in dunks per game last season. When you consider how much room he has to improve, a #10 ranking for Oden isn’t bad. LeBron, Durant, Gay, J-Smoov, Ty Thomas, and Aldridge all finished in the #13-20 range this season, but I’m expecting most of them to crack the Top 10 shortly.

Most Dunks Per Minute

Rank	Player	# of Dunks	Minutes Played	Minutes Per Dunk
1	Shaquille O'Neal	180	2252	12.51
2	Ryan Hollins	35	444	12.69
3	DeAndre Jordan	59	771	13.07
4	Pops Mensah-Bonsu	21	283	13.48
5	Greg Oden	96	1314	13.69
6	Dwight Howard	202	2821	13.97
7	Andrew Bynum	100	1446	14.46
8	JaVale McGee	78	1143	14.65
9	Marreese Speights	79	1262	15.97
10	Jason Maxiell	87	1408	16.18
11	Chris Wilcox	64	1049	16.39
12	Tyson Chandler	87	1445	16.61
13	Nene	142	2510	17.68
14	Amare Stoudemire	109	1948	17.87
15	Hilton Armstrong	60	1092	18.20
16	Brook Lopez	130	2501	19.24
17	Sean Marks	43	838	19.49
18	Hakim Warrick	104	2029	19.51
19	Kenyon Martin	108	2111	19.55
20	Emeka Okafor	135	2691	19.93
21	Ronnie Brewer	128	2605	20.35
22	Tyrus Thomas	106	2175	20.52
23	J.J. Hickson	34	705	20.74
24	Andre Iguodala	152	3269	21.51
25	Brandon Bass	72	1574	21.86

Now it’s time to level the playing field. Compared to their time on the court, which players throw it down most frequently? For ‘08-09, the winner is Shaquille O’Neal, boasting 1 dunk every 12.5 minutes or 3.8 dunks per 48. Ryan Hollins was a close 2nd, with DeAndre Jordan and Pops Mensah-Bonsu right behind him. Are these “high-energy” players deserving of more minutes? And is there a correlation between dunks and offensive rebounds? Well, among players with 250+ minutes, Mensah-Bonsu was 1st, Oden was 3rd, and Maxiell was 8th in offensive boards per minute (all three were in the Top 10 in dunks per minute) this past season.

Ever since he came into the league, Chris Wilcox has been one of the top dunkers per minute. However, he’s already played 7 seasons, and one has to wonder if he’ll ever take his game to the next level. Amare Stoudemire is simply way too talented to be getting just 1 dunk every 17.9 minutes. The top guard on this list is Ronnie Brewer. Can you imagine how good Brewer would be if he had an outside shot?

Most Dunks by a Team

Rank	Team	Key Players	Total # of Dunks
1	Nuggets	Nene (142), K-Mart (108), Melo (64), Birdman (64), Kleiza (45), Balkman (33), D. Jones (29), JR Smith (28), Others (7)	520
2	Suns	Shaq (180), Amare (109), J-Rich (59), Amundson (37), R. Lopez (24), G. Hill (23), Barnes (20), Others (18)	470
3	76ers	Iguodala (152), Dalembert (84), Speights (81), Young (68), Lou Williams (20), Brand (16), Ratliff (15), Others (17)	453
4	Lakers	Gasol (120), Bynum (100), Ariza (66), Kobe (59), Odom (36), Powell (16), Farmar (9), S. Brown (7), Others (25)	438
5	Blazers	Aldridge (107), Oden (99), Przybilla (61), Outlaw (57), Batum (39), Roy (28), Fernandez (26), Bayless (9), Others (9)	435

*NOTE: For the individual stats, guys who played for more than one team had their TOTAL number of dunks listed, but for the TEAM stats, their dunks are separated. For example, Jason Richardson had 67 total dunks this season, but for the Suns team stats, I’m only including the 59 jams that J-Rich threw down while in a Phoenix uniform. In other words, these are the EXACT number of dunks that each team had in ‘08-09.

Denver lost Marcus Camby over the summer and Carmelo Anthony had 59 fewer dunks, but the Nuggets still led the league in jams once again thanks to the incredible bounceback seasons of Nene and the Birdman. With guys like Renaldo Balkman and Dahntay Jones also stepping up, Denver had plenty of dunking depth, boasting a league-high 8 players with 25+ dunks! With a whopping 520 total dunks, Denver averaged an impressive 6.3 slams per game as a team. As they are showing right now in the playoffs, the Nugz are extremely tough and athletic.

In ‘07-08, Amare had 208 jams compared to 97 for Shaq. This season those numbers were reversed, as Shaq had the 2nd biggest improvement and Amare had the 2nd largest decline. The Suns also got a boost from the trade for J-Rich, the emergence of Amundson, and the additions of Lopez and Barnes. However, even if they run-and-gun from the get-go next season, they’ll have a tough time fending off the following teams:

Even with Elton Brand missing 53 games and Dalembert recording 51 fewer jams, Philly still finished 3rd as a team. Their young nucleus of Iguodala, Young, Speights, and Williams will continue to improve, so expect the Sixers to stay on this list for several years to come. If Andrew Bynum could ever stay healthy, the Lakers would have a strong shot at being the #1 dunking team in the NBA. For the 2nd year in a row, Bynum finished in the Top 4 using per game averages, but missed a huge chunk of the season due to injury. Kobe’s dunk numbers are on the decline, but Ariza and Shannon Brown are young and rising. The Blazers are new to this list thanks to a combined 173 dunks from their 4 rookies (Oden, Batum, Fernandez, and Bayless). They also had nice depth, with 7 players throwing it down 25+ times. With youth and athleticism at every position, Portland will likely be in the Top 5 for many years to come.

Fewest Dunks by a Team

Rank	Team	Key Players	Total # of Dunks
1	Spurs	Duncan (24), G. Hill (10), Hairston (8), Gooden (7), Finley (6), Bonner (4), Udoka (4), Ginobili (3), Others (7)	73
2	Pacers	Hibbert (35), Murphy (25), Granger (20), Daniels (17), S. Graham (15), B. Rush (15), Foster (14), Nesterovic (13), Baston (6), Others (7)	167
3	Timberwolves	Carney (39), Love (37), Jefferson (37), M. Miller (18), Foye (15), C. Smith (10), Gomes (7), S. Williams (5), C. Brewer (4), Others (12)	184
4	Rockets	Yao (76), Landry (65), Wafer (25), Artest (11), Scola (7), T-Mac (2), B. Barry (2), Battier (2), Others (4)	194
5	Pistons	Maxiell (88), Prince (47), Amir (32), K. Brown (25), Sheed (16), McDyess (10), Stuckey (5), Herrmann (4), Others (7)	234

After recording just 82 dunks as a team in ‘07-08, the Spurs managed to drop that number even LOWER in ‘08-09. With a total of 73 slams, that translates to just .89 dunks per game AS A TEAM! To get an idea of how far below the mean that is, consider that 32 individual players had more total dunks this past season. One bright spot was rookie guard George Hill throwing it down 10 times in just 1,270 minutes, but it’s hard to get excited about the rest of this aging squad. Duncan had 19 fewer dunks, and the Spurs didn’t have a single player in the Top 120. After this year’s 1st round exit, I think it’s time for San Antonio to inject some youth and athleticism into their frontcourt. Oh Tiago Splitter, where art thou?

The Pacers actually had a respectable 8 guys with a dozen or more dunks, but only one with more than 25. However, with Roy Hibbert’s length (35 dunks + 76 blocks in just 1,009 minutes) and Brandon Rush’s athleticism, Indiana has two promising rookies to go along with their star Danny Granger. In Minnesota, the emergence of Rodney Carney (39 dunks + 79 threes in just 1,199 minutes) and a solid rookie season by Kevin Love were nice positives, but they are still a below average team athletically. If Jefferson and Brewer can stay healthy next season, that will help out a lot. How valuable have Landry & Wafer been to the Rockets? Their energy and athleticism off the bench resulted in more dunks than Yao, Artest, and McGrady combined this past season. Without them, Houston would be very boring and predictable. The Pistons had the 5th fewest number of dunks this past season, but they still had more than 3 times as many as San Antonio!

1+ Dunk and 1+ Three Club

Rank	Player	Dunks Per Game	Threes Per Game	Total
1	LeBron James	1.58	1.63	3.21
2	Kevin Durant	1.54	1.31	2.85
3	Andre Iguodala	1.85	0.98	2.82
4	Dwyane Wade	1.59	1.11	2.70
5	Rudy Gay	1.49	1.08	2.57
6	Carmelo Anthony	0.97	0.95	1.92

LeBron, Durant, Iguodala, Wade, Gay, and Carmelo. If you’re a young superstar small forward (or a badass shooting guard), this is THE list to be on. After all, if you can average 1 dunk and 1 three per game (rounding up in Melo’s case), that shows that you have excellent size, athleticism, and shooting range. Considering that only 6 players made the club this season, it’s an exclusive offensive fraternity. In the past, Kobe and J-Rich had no problem getting in, but their dunk numbers didn’t make the cut in ‘08-09. So looking forward to next season, I’m curious if any emerging talents will join the club. Here are the 4 most likely candidates:

Trevor Ariza – .80 dunks and .74 threes in 24.4 minutes per game

Jeff Green – .78 dunks and 1.23 threes in 36.8 minutes per game

Travis Outlaw – .70 dunks and 1.10 threes in 27.7 minutes per game

Thaddeus Young – .91 dunks and .75 threes in 34.4 minutes per game

SOURCES and ACCURACY:

Last year, I used CBS Sports’ Dunk-O-Meter to compile my stats. This year, I switched over to the Sortable Shooting Stats found at 82games.com. For some players, their total number of dunks is listed as the same on both sites. For other players, their number varied by 1 or 2 dunks (3 in the rarest of cases). Since I believe that the 82games stats are more accurate, I decided to use them. For all of the “special” categories, I sorted and calculated everything myself. I’m 99% sure that my figures are accurate, but if you think there’s an error, please let me know.

DISCLAIMER:

I find this information to be both entertaining and informative, and I hope that you do too. While there is much more to the game of basketball, the importance of slam dunks should not be underestimated. When the home team gets a nice slam, it energizes the crowd, and in special cases, the resulting arena noise can be deafening. When the road team gets a nice slam, it can effectively shut the home crowd up and reverse momentum. Often times, big scoring runs are sparked by stellar slam dunks. For this reason, I’d like to play in a fantasy league that rewards players for dunking. Let’s not forget that the NBA is an entertainment business, and that the incredible athleticism on display is what attracts many fans, which in turn pays for player salaries and keeps the business running smoothly.

However, while I’m presenting these dunk stats to you, I also realize the importance of knowing when NOT to dunk. The perfect example was Derrick Rose blocking Brian Scalabrine’s dunk attempt just a few days ago. While Scalabrine slowed down to plant both feet so he could go up for the 2-hand slam, he gave Rose all the time that he needed to chase him down and time his jump for the perfect rejection. While it was certainly an incredible play by the Rookie of the Year, if Brian had simply kept his stride, jumped off of one foot, and rotated his body to shield Rose from the ball, he would have gotten the layup (and perhaps an and 1 opportunity). Sometimes, the layup is the smart play.

From a purely business and spectator perspective, I’ve long said that the WNBA should lower their rims to 9 or 9 1/2 feet. Yes, I’m aware that there are a few ladies who can dunk on a 10 foot rim, but the reality is that those dunks are few and far between. Personally, if there was a WNBA version of the Denver Nuggets throwing down 6-7 dunks per game, I would likely check them out. It would be a bold move indeed, but their TV ratings and revenue would likely soar.

And if you’re looking for last season’s Slam Dunk Stats, simply click here.

Related posts:

1. 2007-08 Slam Dunk Stats To the surprise of no one, Dwight Howard led the NBA in dunks...