Who was the first woman to dunk in an official WNBA game?

Who was the first woman to dunk in an official WNBA game?

Babu Tendu
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:16 PM

Since its inception in 1997, many people have wondered whether there have ever been any women who hit the slam on the court during the regular WNBA season. This is due to the small number of women over 5'5 feet tall. The generalization of women as short has led to people assuming that they cannot dunk. However, the fact of there not being a woman dunker in the WNBA is now a non-debate. Who was the first woman to dunk in an official WNBA game? Let's find out.

Who was the first woman to dunk in an official WNBA game?
The post reveals the first-ever woman to do a slam dunk in the WNBA. Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein. (Modified by author).
Source: Getty Images

Lisa Leslie

She is known for her remarkable height and is one of the official women's basketball league pioneers. She has more than 30 individual accolades under her name. Her brilliance will be well discussed in this post. She is one of the all-time greats of the sport.

Can any woman in the WNBA dunk?

Slamming is not one of the things for which the WNBA is renowned. Simply put, female athletes rarely shake the rim during games. Even so, some of the league's best and most muscular athletes have pulled off a few impressive slams over the years.

How many females in the WNBA can dunk?

The number can be limitless as time goes on. Thus far, only seven women have achieved this fate in an official match. Those women will be featured briefly in this post..

How many WNBA players have dunks?

Slams, while impressive, are not a massive part of the WNBA's long history. In fact, since its inception in 1996, the league has only had seven players who have achieved the feat. These are:

7. Liz Cambage

Although Liz Cambage was not as spectacular or flashy as the other players on this list, she did something truly exceptional: she dunked during the Olympics.

The 6'8 centre made a strong dunk against Russia while competing for the Australian national team at the 2012 London Olympics.

6. Jonquel Jones

Jonquel Jones, another All-Star gamer, scored in 2017 while competing in her first All-Star game. Like in the case for Fowles, this shot at the basket was uncontested, and there was no stake in the outcome, but that doesn't make it any less impressive.

Jonquel Jones and Lisa Leslie's dunk
Jonquel Jones of Bosnia looks on during the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball match between Belgium and Bosnia & Herzegovina on September 26th, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Mark Metcalfe.
Source: Getty Images

5. Brittney Griner

All the people on this list can shoot from beyond the arc, but only Brittney Griner can slam with such power. She is a pure athlete who burst onto the high school scene during her senior year when she hit the slam an incredible 52 times. She arguably has the most dunks in WNBA history.

She then became the second player in history to slam twice in an NCAA game and the seventh to ever do so in a women's basketball match. Additionally, she slammed the ball 13 times while playing in the WNBA, including twice in her debut.

4. Sylvia Fowles

Sylvia Fowles is one of the few female basketball players who can slam, despite not being as well known as the other players on this list. She performed it during an all-star game, just like Michelle Snow. In her first WNBA game, she hit the slam to the surprise of many.

How many times has a woman dunked in WNBA?
Sylvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx rebounds the ball against the Seattle Storm in the third quarter of the game at Target Center on August 12, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by David Berding.
Source: Getty Images

3. Candace Parker

Parker had always been able to jump. She was the first woman to hit the slam in an NCAA tournament match and the first female player to slam twice in a college match. She was also a two-time college player of the year.

How many WNBA players have dunks?
Candace Parker of the Chicago Sky during a game against the Connecticut Sun in Game Five of the 2022 WNBA Playoffs at Wintrust Arena on September 8 2022, in Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Michael Reaves.
Source: Getty Images

She has dunked twice, even though it was not a part of her WNBA game. The first occurred during a game in 2008, and the second occurred in late July.

2. Michelle Snow

Michelle Snow became the second WNBA player to slam in a game just one year after Leslie hit the slam in 2005. She could even execute a stunning reverse-style dunk instead of a typical straight-on jam.

How many females in the WNBA can dunk?
Michelle Snow, the #2 of the Washington Mystics poses for a photo during the Washington Mystics media day at the Verizon Center on May 9, 2013, in Washington D.C. Photo by Ned Dishman.
Source: Getty Images

1. Lisa Leslie

Lisa Leslie became the first person in the WNBA to hit the slam. She did so on July 30, 2002, when she threw a slam against the Miami Sol. Lisa Leslie's dunk went down in history as the first dunk in WNBA history, and surprised everyone in world of basketball.

How many times has a woman dunked in WNBA?

In the WNBA, there have been 27 dunks as of December 2022. Seven happened during All-Star Games, while the majority (20) occurred during regular-season games.

The question of who "was the first woman to dunk in an official WNBA game" has always been prevalent on the internet. With little time left in the first half of the LA Sparks' 82–73 loss to Miami at the STAPLES Center on July 30, 2002, Lisa Leslie threw down a one-handed dunk to become the first WNBA player to dunk in a game.

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