There was a famous sneaker ad years ago in which it was declared that "chicks love the longball."
A basketball version easily could have substituted in the word "dunk."
There is no play in an NBA which energizes the crowd more than a dunk, whether it be a rim-rocker, alley-oop or some kind of artistic display. The league even saves its dunk contest for the finale of its All-Star skills competition and it is easily the most popular attraction of the day’s events.
With that being said, chicks must love the Milwaukee Bucks this season.
No team in the NBA has scored a higher percentage of their points on a dunk or layup.
Entering Tuesday, of the Bucks’ 581 points, more than half — 293 — have come via this route. That 50.4 percent of close-in field goals is just more than the No. 2 team, Houston (49.0 percent) but a decent amount ahead of anyone else. Oklahoma City is third at 46.6 percent followed by Miami (45.4) and Denver (44.7).
Leading the dunk parade for Milwaukee is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is fifth in the NBA with 39.
Jabari Parker has 21, giving the Bucks the second-highest dunk combo in the NBA, topped only the Los Angeles Clippers duo of DeAndre Jordan (46) and Blake Griffin (18).
Here are the NBA dunk leaders entering Tuesday’s games:
| Player | Team | Dunks |
|---|---|---|
| Dwight Howard | Hawks | 47 |
| Clint Capela | Rockets | 46 |
| DeAndre Jordan | Clippers | 46 |
| Rudy Gobert | Jazz | 41 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | Bucks | 39 |
| Hassan Whiteside | Heat | 35 |
| Kevin Durant | Warriors | 33 |
| Andre Drummond | Pistons | 29 |
| DeMarcus Cousins | Kings | 25 |
| Rudy Gay | Kings | 25 |
| Larry Nance Jr. | Lakers | 24 |
| Steven Adams | Thunder | 23 |
| LeBron James | Cavaliers | 23 |
| Timofey Mozgrov | Lakers | 23 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | Knicks | 23 |
| Mason Plumlee | Blazers | 22 |
| Jabari Parker | Bucks | 21 |
| Tristan Thompson | Cavaliers | 21 |
| Alex Len | Suns | 20 |
| Blake Griffin | Clippers | 18 |
Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth’s Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
