Dunking may seem like a common thing that happens in the NBA every game, however, dunks are much harder to come by in the WNBA. Currently, there are only seven players in the history of the WNBA that have pulled off an in-game dunk.
We will break down the careers of each of these players, what they accomplished during their time in the WNBA, and discuss some of the biggest dunks in the careers of each player.
WNBA Player that Can Dunk
Liz Cambage
- Position: Center
- 6-8, 216lbs
- College: N/A
- Draft: Tulsa Shock, 1st round (2nd overall)
- Career Averages: 15.8 pts, 7.5 trb, 1.6 ast
Liz Cambage was the first woman to ever dunk in the Olympics. She accomplished this feat in the 2012 Olympics while she was playing with the Australian National Team. In a game against, Russia, Cambage was passed the ball at the top of the free throw line with a clear lane. She drove through the lane, went up with one hand, and made Olympic history.
Although Cambage has not been able to pull off a dunk in a regular season WNBA game, she was able to flush a dunk home in the 2018 All-Star game. On top of being one of the few players in the history of the WNBA to dunk, she is still one of the best all-around players in the league.
Despite only being in the WNBA for six seasons, she has been named to the All-Star team four times.
Sylvia Fowles
- Position: Center
- 6-6, 219lbs
- College: LSU
- Draft: 1st round (2nd overall)
- Career Averages: 15.7 pts, 9.8 trb, 1.1 ast
Sylvia Fowles is another player that did not dunk in a regular season WNBA game, however, she did dunk in her final All-Star game. Fowles was one of the top players to ever play in the WNBA. She spent fifteen seasons in the league, playing until she was 36 years old.
She was named the MVP of the league in 2017 and named to the All-Star team eight times. Along with the dunk in her final All-Star game, Fowles also dunked in the All-Star game in 2009. It is very rare that a basketball player has the longevity that Fowles had. Although her WNBA career has now come to a close, she will be remembered as one of the best of her generation.
Brittney Griner
- Position: Center
- 6-9, 205lbs
- College: Baylor
- Draft: 1st round (1st overall)
- Career Averages: 17.7 pts, 7.6 trb, 1.8 ast
Brittney Griner is the most notorious dunker in WNBA history. She holds the record for most dunks over a career with 23 in-game regular-season dunks and five dunks in the All-Star game.
Griner is one of the biggest names in the league today and her ability to dunk is one of the main draws to her game. Along with this, she is an elite scorer, averaging 20 points per game or more four times in her nine-year career.
Did You Know: Brittney Griner is currently being held in Russian prison for nine years after being found guilty of drug possession and smuggling.
Jonquel Jones
- Position: Forward
- 6-6, 202lbs
- College: Clemson, George Washington
- Draft: 1st round (6th overall)
- Career Averages: 13.6 pts, 8.3 trb, 1.6 ast
Jonquel Jones is another player in the upper echelon of the WNBA. On top of being one of the best in the league, Jones also is one of the few players to dunk in a game.
Jones is another player who has not yet pulled off a dunk in the regular season, however, she did get a dunk off in the 2017 WNBA All-Star game. As the clock began to wind down to end the game, the Western Conference All-Star team left the lane open and Jones took full advantage.
She went up off of one and almost effortlessly flushed the dunk home. Both teams celebrated the athletic feat as the game came to an end.
Jones has been in the WNBA for six seasons. During that time, she was named the MVP of the league in the 2021 season and was named to the All-Star team four times. Although her only WNBA career dunk came four years ago, Jones is still at the top of her game and there is a chance that she could pull off a dunk in the regular season before her athletic prime passes.
Lisa Leslie
- Position: Center
- 6-5, 170lbs
- College: California
- Draft: Los Angeles Sparks, 1997 Allocation Draft
- Career Averages: 17.3 pts, 9.1 trb, 2.4 ast
Lisa Leslie was the first player in WNBA history to dunk in a regular season game in 2002. At the time Leslie was a member of the Los Angeles Sparks who were one of the biggest teams in the WNBA. As a result of this historic moment, the news spread across the sports world like wildfire. She would repeat this feat in the 2005 WNBA All-Star game.
Leslie dunked twice before any other player in WNBA history was able to pull it off once. Her dunk in 2002 would remain the only dunk in a regular season WNBA game to occur until Candace Parker would become a part of the list in 2008.
Lisa Leslie was much more than just a dunker and is one of the greatest to put on a WNBA uniform.
Candace Parker
- Position: Forward-center
- 6-4, 175 lbs
- College: Tennessee
- Draft: 1st round (1st overall)
- Career Averages: 16.4 pts, 8.6 trb, 4.0 ast
Candace Parker is another player that is on the Mount Rushmore of the WNBA. She spent a mind-blowing fifteen seasons in the league.
During that time, she was named the MVP of the league twice, a seven-time All-Star, and the MVP of the All-Star game in 2013. Early on in her career, Parker was taken under the wing of Lisa Leslie. Coming into the league, everyone knew that Parker was going to be great.
She was the first woman to ever dunk in the NCAA tournament in 2006. With the potential that she had coming into the league paired with the guidance that Leslie gave her created that perfect storm for Parker to become arguably the best of all time when it comes to the WNBA.
She is now a member of the TNT crew that covers NBA games. TNT has made an effort to bring in former legends to cover today’s game and Parker made for a perfect fit.
In a way, Leslie passed the torch of the Sparks on to Parker and she was the perfect disciple. Parker was the second woman in WNBA history to dunk in a regular season game, the first of course being Lisa Leslie.
Michelle Snow
- Position: Center
- 6-5, 145lbs
- College: Tennessee
- Draft: 1st round (10th overall)
- Career Averages: 8.4 pts, 6.2 trb, 1.1 ast
The final player in the history of the WNBA that has pulled off a dunk is Michelle Snow. Snow had a great 13-year career in the WNBA that came with two All-Star nominations.
Snow was not an elite scorer or rebounder, however, she played a great defensive game and had elite size. She stood at 6’5” and had amazing athleticism that allowed her to jump out of the gym. She became the second woman to dunk in WNBA history.
Her dunk came in the 2006 All-Star game. By this time, Lisa Leslie had dunked two times. Once in a regular season game, and once in an All-Star game. It appeared that early on, Snow would take Parker under her wing as her mentor, as they were seen putting on a dunk contest at Team USA’s practice.
However, after Parker was drafted to the Sparks, the relationship between the two would never quite be the same and Leslie would replace Snow as Parker’s mentor.
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FAQs
There are still some lingering questions when it comes to the specifics of dunking in the WNBA that we will cover below. These questions include who was the shortest player in the history of the WNBA to dunk, who was the first in-game dunker in the WNBA, and how many career dunks does Brittney Griner have.
Shortest WNBA Player to Dunk?
The shortest WNBA player to ever dunk was Jonquel Jones. Standing only at 6’6”, Jones dunked only once in the 2017 WNBA All-Star game. Although she has not dunked in a regular season game yet in her career, she still has plenty of time to accomplish the feat and there is a solid chance that she is able to pull it off before she retires.
Who Had the First In-Game WNBA Dunk?
The first in-game WNBA dunk came from Lisa Leslie. Leslie is arguably the most revolutionary player in the history of women’s basketball.
Her first and only dunk in a regular season game came in 2002. She would once again stake her claim at history and dunk again in a game before anyone else in WNBA history was able to dunk it once. Her second dunk came in the 2005 All-Star game.
No one would have a dunk in a regular season game like Leslie did in 2002 until Candace Parker would join her on the list in 2008.
How Many Career Dunks Does Brittney Griner Have?
Brittney Griner is the best dunker in the history of the WNBA. She has more career dunks than the rest of the league does combined. There is a chance that we never see a player like Griner again in the WNBA.
Over the course of her eight-year WNBA career, Griner has dunked 23 times over the course of her career. 17 of these dunks came in the regular season, five occurred in the All-Star game, and one happened in the playoffs.