Which player has most dunks in NBA history? All you need to know
Dunking is one the most anticipated plays in the NBA. Dunks most of the time bring excitement to both the audience and fellow players on the court. Vince Carter, Julius Erving and Michael Jordan are some of the best dunkers in history. While they revolutionized the art of slamming the ball, who dunked the ball the most? Here's all you need to know.
Big men lead the charge for most dunks in NBA history
When hearing the word dunk in basketball, one would automatically relate it to a tall player or a high leaper. Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal hold the record for the most dunks in NBA history. Both big men controlled the paint with ease and could slam the ball on almost every opponent because of their size and strength.
Howard has the most dunks in the regular season since the statistic began to be formally monitored in 1996. He had 2,950 dunks at the end of the 2022 season, more than Shaquille O'Neal, who is now in second place with 2,626. Howard was basically Shaq 2.0 — dominant in the paint, blocked every shot and slammed the ball at every opportunity he got.
Notably, Shaq averaged 3.1 dunks per regular-season game and accomplished this milestone in fewer games. Howard averaged 2.8 dunks per game and despite his amazing feat, O'Neal is still a league leader in dunks in the playoffs. "Big Diesel" is sitting comfortably in top spot with 574 playoff dunks. Howard is in third place with 302 dunks.
Shaq, who once led the league in dunks during the regular season and is a three-time NBA Finals MVP, still rules supreme in postseason dunks. There is a good chance his record will be untouched. The best candidate amongst active players who can come close is Giannis Antetokoumpo. His excellent regular-season average of 2.7 dunks per game has increased to 3.2 in the postseason.
Not to be outdone, Shaq saw his lifetime average of 3.1 dunks per game jump to 3.3 in the postseason. Antetokoumpo might ultimately play more games and it will be interesting to see if he can catch O'Neal.
"Big Diesel" also tops the list for the most dunks in single NBA game. In fact, he holds the record for three different games with 11 dunks. Dwight Howard is only trailing by one dunk in a single game to tie Shaq. However, with "Superman" now playing in Taiwan's T1 League, it's unlikely he'll ever tie or beat the record.