Utah Jazz: Gobert leads Antetokounmpo in race for dunk record

Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert holds a slight edge over Giannis Antetokounmpo as the two battle to become the NBA’s most prolific single-season dunker.

Rudy Gobert may be known as a defensive player, but he’s on the cusp of making history on the other side of the court. The Utah Jazz center is quickly closing in on Dwight Howard‘s all-time, single-season slam dunk record.

Gobert logged five big throw-downs against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, none of which were sweeter than this lob job courtesy of Ricky Rubio —

With five more slams in the bank, Gobert has now accrued 199 on the year. He currently holds a slight lead over Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is also in hot pursuit of Howard with 197 dunks this season.

Howard’s record has stood for more than a decade, dating back to the 2007-08 campaign. As the No. 1 option for an Orlando Magic offense that was fourth-best in the NBA that year, he slammed it home a total of 269 times. That equals out to 3.28 dunks per contest, a number that Gobert and Antetokounmpo are both crushing.

The Greek Freak has actually been slightly more prolific than Gobert in terms of jams per game, notching 3.86 of them on average. Although nearly half of the Stifle Tower’s shots have been dunk attempts, his lower offensive usage overall has held him to 3.55 dunks a night.

With both players achieving such a high rate of slammage, it would take something catastrophic for them to not pass Howard; the real questions is which player will have the higher number at the end of the season.

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At current pace, Gobert would break Howard’s record with six games to spare. Antetokounmpo would obviously have more time to pad his number in that scenario, especially given the fact that the Bucks have played one less game than the Jazz.

However, the Eastern Conference All-Star has missed a handful of games this season while Gobert has 100 percent attendance. If those trends continue, No. 27 may just be able to hold onto the No. 1 spot.