# The 19 Greatest NBA Dunkers of All Time

> Rims have been bent, backboards shattered and whole contests decided by a single jam. Judge with your eyes, not the stat sheet.

*By YPB Team · Published October 24, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-19-greatest-nba-dunkers-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Michael Jordan** — score 1000/1000
   Two-time Slam Dunk Contest champion whose free-throw-line flight became basketball's defining image.
2. **Blake Griffin** — score 730/1000
   Lob City's centerpiece who famously dunked over a Kia in the 2011 contest.
3. **Vince Carter** — score 647/1000
   The 2000 Slam Dunk Contest winner whose 'honey dip' and elbow-in-the-rim dunk changed the contest.
4. **Aaron Gordon** — score 584/1000
   Orlando forward and perennial dunk-contest star, who famously lost twice on controversial scoring.
5. **Julius Erving** — score 534/1000
   'Dr. J,' who popularized above-the-rim play and won the first ABA dunk contest in 1976.
6. **Clyde Drexler** — score 534/1000
   'Clyde the Glide,' a Hall of Fame wing with fluid rim attacks over a 15-year career.
7. **Darryl Dawkins** — score 478/1000
   'Chocolate Thunder,' who shattered backboards and named his dunks.
8. **Derrick Jones Jr.** — score 478/1000
   2020 dunk contest champion who beat Aaron Gordon in the final.
9. **Kobe Bryant** — score 478/1000
   The 1997 Slam Dunk Contest winner, then one of the league's most athletic wings.
10. **Spud Webb** — score 414/1000
   At 5'6" he won the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest, defeating teammate Dominique Wilkins.
11. **DeAndre Jordan** — score 414/1000
   Lob City center whose rim-rocking alley-oops and 2010s dunk totals led the league.
12. **Dwight Howard** — score 414/1000
   Won the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest in a Superman cape and posterized defenders for years.
13. **LeBron James** — score 341/1000
   A freight-train finisher whose chase-down blocks and open-court dunks have lasted two decades.
14. **Shawn Kemp** — score 257/1000
   'The Reign Man,' whose backboard-shaking jams defined 1990s Seattle.
15. **Giannis Antetokounmpo** — score 257/1000
   Eurostep-and-throwdown finisher whose length makes him one of the league's most devastating dunkers.
16. **Ja Morant** — score 257/1000
   Memphis guard who has put forward some of the most acrobatic dunks of the 2020s.
17. **Dominique Wilkins** — score 257/1000
   'The Human Highlight Film,' a 1985 and 1990 dunk champion known for windmills.
18. **Zach LaVine** — score 257/1000
   Two-time dunk champion whose 2015 and 2016 duel with Aaron Gordon is a contest classic.
19. **Nate Robinson** — score 159/1000
   The only three-time Slam Dunk Contest winner, at 5'9".

Tags: basketball, players, nba, dunking