Recognition for the NBA's highest fliers shouldn't stop at February's Slam Dunk Contest.

There are awards for the Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year. Shouldn't there be a slate of year-end superlatives for the Association's slam-dunk maestros? Bleacher Report believes there most definitely should be.

Using a healthy mix of dunk data, courtesy of B/R Insights, and subjective interpretation, we've come up with designations for the league's premier rim-rockers. Shot-attempt minimums will be imposed throughout, and each player is eligible to win just one category.

Other than that, there are no caveats. Let's now celebrate those who dare to play above the rim.

Most Efficient Dunker: Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

Dwyane Wade, as it turns out, is 34 going on 19.

Of every player to attempt at least 30 dunks this season, Wade is the only one with perfect efficiency. He is shooting 34-of-34 when abusing the iron, and while not every slam is worthy of a poster, we nevertheless salute him. 

This old dude has ups.

Least Efficient Dunker: Mike Scott, Atlanta Hawks

Here's the bad news for Mike Scott: He has the lowest conversion rate of every player to try at least 20 dunks on the season.

The good news? He is still putting down more than 69 percent of his rim-rocking opportunities overall. And that means he's more than twice as efficient on dunks as Andre Drummond is on free throws (33.3 percent).

Silver linings, y'all.

Most Fearless Dunker: DeAndre Jordan, Los Angeles Clippers

There is no one way to quantify the NBA's most fearless dunker. Fortunately, DeAndre Jordan passes the eye test in a big way.

Career party poopers tend to diminish his offensive accomplishments because he plays alongside Chris Paul. But Jordan shows no regard for human life when taking flight—including his own.

One-handed alley-oops in traffic aren't easy. Same goes for reverse jams. No player in the league has finished more contested stuffs. The Los Angeles Clippers man-child is a human highlight factory and has earned this honor.

Best Putback Dunker: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans

Anthony Davis' 22 putback smashes lead the NBA, and it isn't even kind of close. Nerlens Noel is a distant second with 16 cleanup dunks.

The Brow's secret to putback domination is twofold. First, he's long, in a government-covert-lab-experiment kind of way. And second, the New Orleans Pelicans miss a lot of shots. They rank in the bottom half of overall field-goal percentage and are among the 10 worst two-point shooters in the league.

Just imagine what Davis could do if he ever plays in 70 games during the same season.

Longest Leaper: Ben McLemore, Sacramento Kings

Ben McLemore is, on average, taking off for his dunks while 5.84 feet away from the basket. That ranks first among every player to attempt at least 10 jams, just edging out Damian Lillard's 5.82-foot liftoff gap.

Here is how the top eight of this category shakes out: 

Props to LeBron James, who joins Shaun Livingston as the only players over 30 to make this cut. And kudos to Jonathon Simmons, the San Antonio Spurs' most anti-Spurs dunker ever. 

Anyhow, McLemore has spring-loaded reinforced steel pegs for legs. His 20 jams are a career low, but his minutes are down, and he's no longer wholly reliant on athleticism to get him by.

Plus, his post-dunk dances/facial expressions/general revelries have never been better, per CSN California's James Ham:

Highest Riser: Montrezl Harrell, Houston Rockets

Our Highest Riser award is a single-dunk honor—one that Montrezl Harrell stole with the above stuff during the Houston Rockets' March 14 blowout victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Harrell carried the ball to a maximum height of nearly 13.9 feet. 

See? Garbage-time finishes can be memorable, too.

Until that point, Noel's Dec. 28 flush against the Utah Jazz led the way for all dunkers. He possessed the ball as high as 13.6 feet off the floor, much to the helplessness of Rodney Hood:

Now that's a good dunk. Harrell's was just higher. 

Most Creative Breakaway Dunker: Zach LaVine, Minnesota Timberwolves

There are only a handful of players confident enough to mix things up in transition to begin with, and Zach LaVine is the best of them.

The two-time dunk champion does more than just soar from unfathomable distances when on the break. He throws down windmills. And reverses. And 360-degree seat-clearers.

Not that this distinction should surprise us. Creative in-game dunks take elite-level spontaneity, and LaVine won this year's dunk contest by being the king of midair improvisation.

For the record, if there was a "Breakaway Dunker Most Likely to Get Chewed Out by His Coach for Being Too Flashy" award, LaVine would win that, too.

Flies on the Minnesota Timberwolves' locker room walls only know how many times interim head coach Sam Mitchell has scolded LaVine for being too much of a millennial.

Best Lil Guy Dunker: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

Objectively speaking, this honor belongs to the guard with the most dunks. Subjectively speaking, it should go to the most vicious backcourt finisher.

Russell Westbrook is both the objective and subjective winner, so there are no debates to have here. He leads all guards with 67 flushes and, on most nights, leaves the arena's rims worse for wear.

And he's 6'3", the same size as Stephen Curry, who has attempted, and made, all of seven dunks this season.

"Because of the fear that he provokes, trying to defend him with however many players is only feasible on the whiteboard," Zito Madu wrote of Westbrook for SB Nation. "It's an example of everyone having a plan until they're punched in the mouth. Fear kills strategy."

You can have your crazy, 30-foot circus daggers, Steph. Russ will keep his backboard-breaking, soul-crushing, reality-bending posters.

Best Alley-Oop Dunker: Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets

Since DeAndre Jordan already earned the Most Fearless Dunker nod, he is ineligible to grab this piece of intangible hardware.

That brings us to Dwight Howard, who remains an alley-oop machine, despite being on the back end of his athletic prime. He has thrown down 79 alley-oop dunks. Andre Drummond, by comparison, has 62 such finishes to his name.

Potential free-agent suitors are now able to rest easy. Superman can still fly.

Most Powerful Dunker: Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat

Hassan Whiteside's 137 dunks rank fourth in the NBA. More than 75 percent of those leave you with the feeling that the 26-year-old tower was once personally slighted by all the rims in existence.

There is no one in the NBA more deserving of what should unofficially be known as the "Best Young Shaquille O'Neal Impersonator" award. 

Here's to Whiteside enjoying this honor while he can.

Because Boban Marjanovic is coming for it:

B/R Insights data accurate as of March 31. Other stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com and accurate leading into April 5 games.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @danfavale.