FinnI’m Finn Addy, a 6’1″ one-foot dunker from Ontario, Canada. I went on episode 17 of the Dunk Talk podcast with Dylan Haugen to talk through how I got into dunking and how winning the 10-foot contest at The Dunk Camp turned into my first professional dunk contest. The full episode is at the top of this page. Here is the short version in my own words.
Lowering the Rim and Finding Stephen Celi
I started messing around on low rims when I was really young, way before I could touch a real one. It was never serious, I just liked it.
“I always kind of liked dunking on low rims since I was probably 12, 13. I’d lower the rim, pretend I’m Derrick Rose, pretend I’m LeBron James.”
Finn Addy
Once I got closer to actually dunking, I found Stephen Celi on YouTube and watched his whole journey from the start. That was the thing that made me want to really chase it. I got my first dunk around 16, at about 5’10” and 120 pounds, on a 9’10” rim. I grew up playing hockey and soccer before I switched to basketball in grade seven, and I played one year of college basketball. That year my vertical actually went down. I basically turned into a marathoner. When I quit the team, my bounce started coming back.
Why I Jump Off One Foot
I have always been a one-foot jumper. I could barely dunk off two feet until recently. When people ask who I study, it starts with Celi, but for one-foot specifically it is all Jordan Southerland.
“Southerland, easily. I think he expanded the one-foot bag like crazy. He does every dunk that two-foot guys do, but off one.”
Finn Addy
The first time I went to The Dunk Camp back in 2022, I was there as a spectator and I still hit my first Eastbay off pure adrenaline, no lifting at all. I tested a 39 that year just from jumping. After five months of actually training, mostly heavy quarter squats, I got up to around 43 inches. For a one-foot jumper, that quarter squat is the whole game.
Winning the 10-Foot Contest at Dunk Camp 2024
A few days before the 2024 camp I tweaked my hamstring wrestling my brother. Honestly it might have worked out perfectly, because I barely dunked Monday through Wednesday and showed up completely fresh for the contest on Thursday. I put my headphones on, listened to “Untouchable” by YoungBoy for a few hours, and came up with my plan right there.
“I made them all last attempt, came into the finals in last place, and then I made a two-hand reverse windmill and won first try in the finals.”
Finn Addy
Winning that contest is the moment everything changed for me. I went from feeling like an underrated amateur to being a pro dunker, and it set up the whole rest of the year.
From The Dunk Camp to FIBA Edmonton
Because I won, I got invited to the FIBA 3×3 World Tour dunk contest in Edmonton, against Donovan Hawkins and Brandon Ruffin. They flew me out, covered the hotel and the food, and I got to compete on a real stage for the first time. I wrote all my dunks down beforehand. I was nervous right up until I walked out, and then the crowd energy hit and the nerves were gone. I punched my first two dunks and missed the third.
“It was probably the best weekend of my life. It was so fun.”
Finn Addy
The other thing that came out of that camp: I walked up to Jordan Kilganon after I won, told him I would make the drive to Sudbury any time, and a few days later I was at his house dunking with him. Training with the best dunker alive came directly out of one contest.
What Comes Next
Dylan and his co-host spent a chunk of the episode convincing me to make more long-form content and post my full sessions, which is something the whole Dunk Talk crew preaches. They actually wrote a whole piece on why every dunker should make long-form content, and they are right. My goals from here are simple: the under-both is my holy grail, then a Tomahawk and a J Rich, and someday a double Eastbay even if it takes a lower rim to get there.
The full conversation is in the video above. A few months later I went back on the show to recap the whole year, which you can read in my 2024 recap on the podcast. You can follow the journey on Instagram @finnaddy1 and on YouTube, or reach me through my Connect page.