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What Dunking Taught Me About Helping Brands Win

Here’s something most people don’t expect from a dunker: I think a lot about the business side. Not just “how do I get sponsors,” but “how do I actually make a sponsor money.”

That mindset got real when I sat down with Dennis Yu and the Local Service Spotlight team to work on growing my dad’s painting business. We talked through making video content that answers the exact questions customers ask, building a stronger Google presence, and using a Dollar-a-Day approach — putting small budget behind the content that’s already working instead of guessing. Watching marketing through that lens changed how I see my own brand.

Because dunking is the same game. A viral clip is a spike; a body of work that keeps getting found is an asset. The dunkers who last aren’t just the ones who jump the highest — they’re the ones who turn their reps into something a brand can find, trust, and build a campaign around.

So when I work with a brand, I’m not just handing over a post and hoping. I treat it like a campaign: make the content, see what performs, and double down on the winners. That’s the difference between renting a shout-out and getting a partner who cares about your return.

If you’re a brand that wants dunk content that actually does something, let’s talk.

People call me the 1FootDisciple for a reason. Most pro dunkers gather and explode off two feet — it’s more controllable and, honestly, easier to load. I go off one foot at full speed. It’s rarer, it’s harder, and it’s the way I fell in love with dunking in the first place.

It started in the driveway, lowering the rim and pretending to be Derrick Rose or LeBron. The first time I touched the rim at 16, I was hooked. I never did formal vertical-jump training back then — it was just basketball and an obsession with going up off one leg until it became instinct. Channels like Dunkademics and Steven Celi showed me what was possible, and I chased it.

The numbers eventually followed: a 43-inch vertical off one foot, around 39 off two. But the real unlock was treating it like a craft — moderate strength work (quarter squats changed everything), low-volume but high-quality jump sessions, and learning new trick dunks on a slightly lowered rim before taking them to the full 10.

Then Jordan Kilganon — the guy a lot of people call the greatest dunker ever — brought me out to train at his place in Ontario. Getting to learn one-foot creativity from someone at that level is surreal. So is getting paid to perform at a camp for Jordan “1FootGod” Southerland, who I’d idolized since I was 13.

One foot is the harder road. That’s exactly why I picked it.

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.