Going into Dunk Camp in Utah, I wasn’t even sure my legs were ready. I’d tweaked my hamstring wrestling with my brother right before camp — which is about the most on-brand way for me to get hurt. So I cut my warm-up short, put on “Untouchable” by YoungBoy on repeat, and tried to tune everything else out.
The 10-foot contest came down to the wire. I made my first three dunks on the last attempt each time, so there was no cushion — every rep had to land. In the finals I went to the two dunks I trusted most off one foot: a two-hand reverse windmill and an elbow dunk. Both first try. That’s what sealed it.
What I learned: at the highest level, judges reward clean and first-attempt as much as difficulty. You can have the hardest dunk in the bag, but if it takes you six tries, you’ve already lost the round in their eyes. Consistency under pressure is its own skill — and it’s the one I trained hardest.
Winning that contest earned me an invite to the FIBA 3×3 World Tour dunk contest in Edmonton against pros like Donovan Hawkins and Brandon Ruffin. That’s the door this title opened — and it’s why I take every contest rep seriously, even the ones nobody’s filming.
Follow the journey: @finnaddy1.
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