While Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards and Giannis Antetokounmpo are smashing the circles every night, a handful of players are still waiting to score their first dunk in the NBA. Among the players who occupy a real place in the different rotations this season, we learn in the newsletter F5 that there are 11 of them who have never dunked in their career!
Obviously, among them, we mainly find playmakers, starting with Trae Young. The Hawks leader is the superstar of this list, and a few months ago, he reacted to this unusual stat: “A basket remains a basket, never forget that children”. At his side, among the leaders, we find Jose Alvarado, TJ McConnell, Fred VanVleet And Patty Mills. The Australian veteran, today at Jazz, has never made it a priority.
“I'd like to say it's low on the list (of my priorities), but to be honest, it's probably not even on the list.”Mills confided a few years ago in Sports Illustrated. “There is the fact of not being able to show yourself in front of the children, and of telling yourself that you cannot do it. But I will continue to work on it. »
In history, Steve Novak is the greatest player without a career dunk
As for TJ McConnell, he points out that at 1m85 tall, it's complicated to dunk. “Given my size, a lot of players come across as guys who can protect their circle. If I see anyone, no matter who, who is close to me, I don't try to dunk. »
Since he plays much less than a VanVleet or a Young, TyTy Washington Jr. (Suns) has less opportunity to show that he has a nice trigger, and he still hasn't dunked in the NBA. Then we move on to the rear with Ty Jerome (Horsemen), one of the revelations of the season, Matt Ryan (Knicks) and A.J. Green (Bucks). Three shooting specialists. Finally, we even find wingers with Jalen Wilson (Nets) and finally Caleb Houstan (Magic).
The latter is the tallest player to have never dunked since he measures 2m04! In history, and since dunks were counted (1996/97 season), Steve Novak was the tallest player to never dunk in his career, and he was 2m08 tall.
Still among the players who are no longer active, there were Steve Nash, Ricky Rubio and Isaiah Thomas and JJ Redick.