Dunking Data For 1988-1993: MJ is the Goat In-Game Dunker for Wing Players

[3ball]

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Comparing Jordan's Dunking Data to Contemporaries


[COLOR="Blue"]We've found 80's and 90's dunk stats from the old Philadelphia 76'er Media Guides (links at bottom of post) - they show that for the 6 seasons between 1988 and 1993, Jordan had 746 dunks, or an average of about 130 dunks per season.. His high was 158 (1988), and his low was 95 (1993).

By comparison, Kobe averaged 65 dunks per season in his prime (2002-2009), which was half of Jordan's totals... Westbrook only gets about 50 dunks per season, or barely 1/3 of Jordan's.. Tracy McGrady averaged 75 dunks from 2001 to 2005 (his athletic prime and highest volume period)... Vince Carter (in his prime) and Paul George only get about 50 dunks per season.

Before anyone says it was easier to dunk in MJ's era, resulting in more dunks - this is statistically false - dunk frequency (shots attempts per dunk) has fluctuated over the years from 1 dunk every 28 shots in 1988 (harder to dunk), to 1 dunk in 20 shots in 1998 (easier to dunk), back down to 1 dunk in 26 shots in 2000 (harder to dunk), back down to 1 dunk in 21 shots in 2013 (easier to dunk):[/COLOR]

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Year..... Shots..... Dunks....Shots Per Dunk

1988..... 165,439..... 5,727..... 28.89 <------ harder to dunk
1989..... 182,375..... 6,475..... 28.17
1990..... 192,942..... 7,011..... 27.52
1991..... 193,050..... 7,241..... 26.66
1992..... 193,401..... 8,122..... 23.81
1993..... 190,296..... 8,252..... 23.06
1994..... 186,948..... 8,515..... 21.96
1995..... 180,414..... 8,645..... 20.87
1996..... 190,675..... 8,468..... 22.52
1997..... 188,587..... 8,460..... 22.29
1998..... 189,544..... 9,318..... 20.34 <------ easier to dunk
1999..... 113,390..... 4,681..... 24.22
2000..... 195,228..... 8,325..... 23.45
2001..... 191,661..... 7,319..... 26.19 <------ harder to dunk
2002..... 193,256..... 8,439..... 22.90
2003..... 192,096..... 8,265..... 23.24
2004..... 189,805..... 8,120..... 23.38
2005..... 197,640..... 9,150..... 21.60
2006..... 194,310..... 8,640..... 22.49
2007..... 196,080..... 8,310..... 23.60
2008..... 200,490..... 9,270..... 21.63
2009..... 199,050..... 9,360..... 21.27
2010..... 201,000..... 8,790..... 22.87
2011......199,800..... 8,910..... 22.42
2012..... 161,220..... 7,320..... 22.02
2013..... 201,600..... 9,540..... 21.13
2014..... 204,180..... 9,030..... 22.61 <------ easier to dunk


Jordan's dunk totals dwarf every single wing player from this era except Wade, Lebron, and Durant... These are the only players that routinely amass over 100 dunks per year, although none of them have as many dunks over a 6-year period as Jordan - the high for any of these three players is 144, by Lebron this year.... Jordan has a season of 153 dunks and another with 158 dunks, and we don't have data for his biggest dunking year - 1987 when he averaged 37.1ppg on 27 shot attempts (still had 59%TS).


SG's and SF's with 1 or more seasons of 100+ Dunks


1988 - 1996[COLOR="White"]......................[/COLOR]2001 - 2014

Michael Jordan.................. Kevin Durant
Dominique Wilkins............. Lebron James
Clyde Drexler.................... Dwayne Wade
Scottie Pippen................... Carmelo Anthony
Penny Hardaway................ Kobe Bryant
Grant Hill.......................... Tracy McGrady
Ron Harper ...................... Andre Iguodala
Richard Dumas.................. Rudy Gay
Stacy Augmon................... Shawn Marion
Michael Finley.................... Richard Jefferson
Jerry Stackhouse
Cedric Ceballos
Derrick McKey (All-NBA Defender)
Roy Hinson
Chris Morris



Looking at the Dunking Environment Across Eras

Of course, different eras use different rules and styles of play which affect how easy it is to get a dunk - this will sound crazy, but Lebron dunked over defenders in a chest-to-chest scenario (posters) only 3 times the entire 2014 season - every other time the spacing and defensive 3 seconds prevented defenders from getting to the spot in time... and most of Lebron's dunks were completely wide open, not even a reach-in or fly-by - the 3-point shooting and floor-spacing creates too much ground and extra space for the defense to cover....

confirm for yourself... here are every single one of Lebron's dunks for the 2014 season - only 3 posters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJNe550OrZM


After you've watched Lebron's dunks, compare that to Jordan's dunks in 1987... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQH7_BW9hCI&t=2m36s


RIGHT AWAY you can tell that there's a massive difference - there is less room between defenders since they only had to defend 2-pointers and therefore guarded a smaller surface area.... and shot-blocking big men are camped in the paint awaiting penetrators (rather than today's game where defenders must help from outside the paint due to 3-point shooting and defensive 3 seconds).

The lack of spacing meant Jordan had to frequently dunk over and through guys - meanwhile, Lebron benefits from more spread-out defenders that can only reach in or fly-by most of the time, rather than be WAITING there ready to fully contest.

Also, here is the highest quality (HD) Jordan dunk compilation on youtube (done by balthus23): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysMFyE4heVo&t=1m45s

And another more one (done by mdestinier):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPRyG5bOOtY


[COLOR="Red"]SOURCES:[/COLOR]

Total Number of Dunks for Each Player in Various Seasons (retrieved from 76er's Media Guides)

1988... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2lb0...8#.U_0tH_ldX2U
1989... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=ra47s3&s=8#.U_0qN_ldX2U
1990... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=29aw...8#.U_0sDPldX2U
1991... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=qpikcz&s=8#.U_0tS_ldX2V
1992... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=iwox8i&s=8#.VI_7OSvF_Ck
1993... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6i9zef&s=8#.U_02XvldX2U

1995... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=316r...8#.VI_53SvF_Ck
1996... http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=j82vl1&s=8#.VI_5qyvF_Ck

Harvey Pollack's Statistical Guide.. Cumulative Dunks 87'-05 (page 10)... http://www.nba.com/media/sixers/05-06SIX_p1-50.pdf
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[Round Mound]

True

[andgar923]

So MJ dunked ON people more than any of his wing peers?

Not surprised.

He's simply a better slasher/jumper/quicker.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

2:57 dunk on the 87-88 link is really impressive, and I'm not sure why. Might just be the camera angle, but it looked like should have been a layup from the initially leap.

[sportjames23]

Great research, 3ball.

You a strong contender for ISH 2014 Rookie of the Year.

[fpliii]

Thanks a ton for sharing. We still need 92, 94, 95, 96, 97.

Did you order the 94 guide? If so, I'll order the other four, and try and complete your dataset.

Thanks again.

(BTW I'd love to see your personal top 10 MJ dunks in the halfcourt if you're interested, when you have the chance.)

[Suguru101]

The defenses Jordan faced were less complex, and weren't as good at containing/stopping the drive.

But yes, Jordan was one of if not the best slasher/dunker the NBA has seen.

[DonDadda59]

The defenses Jordan faced were less complex, and weren't as good at containing/stopping the drive.

Explain how. In as much detail as you possibly can.

[sportjames23]

The defenses Jordan faced were less complex, and weren't as good at containing/stopping the drive.

But yes, Jordan was one of if not the best slasher/dunker the NBA has seen.

Yeah, defenses with hand-checking guards and forwards and legit 7-foot shot-blockers camping in the lane weren't as good at containing/stopping the drive.

[Psileas]

Rookie Shaq at 322, blowing away everyone else from any year before.
And, wow, Larry Bird with only 9 dunks during the season he averaged 30 ppg.

[3ball]

Thanks a ton for sharing. We still need 92, 94, 95, 96, 97.

Did you order the 94 guide? If so, I'll order the other four, and try and complete your dataset.

Thanks again.

(BTW I'd love to see your personal top 10 MJ dunks in the halfcourt if you're interested, when you have the chance.)

No problem, and I'll order 94' if you want to get the others

Will gladly post a top MJ dunks in the halfcourt, probably in an existing thread at some point..

[DonDadda59]

Rookie Shaq at 322, blowing away everyone else from any year before.

Yeah, that jumped out at me. Dude came into the league like a Tornado

And, wow, Larry Bird with only 9 dunks during the season he averaged 30 ppg.

Dat skill level

[juju151111]

Great job

[PHILA]

Do these media guides also have the plus minus data?

[fpliii]

No problem, and I'll order 94' if you want to get the others

Will gladly post my top 10 MJ dunks in the halfcourt, probably in an existing thread somewhere..

Actually, wait, you have 93-94 it seems, since it has data for 92-93 in the OP.

In that case, we just need:

92-93 (data for 91-92)
94-95 (data for 93-94)
95-96 (data for 94-95)
96-97 (data for 95-96)

Correct me if I'm wrong. I can order all four of them then, since you've already done more than half the seasons.

Looking forward to your top 10. One other thing, you said the 93-94 guide still only has plus-minus for the Sixers, correct (and not league wide)?