I am one of 24 dunkers in the world Shaq picked for his new DunkMan League this summer, and last week in Dallas I sat down with Dennis Yu to break down how I got here, where I rank in the league, and what makes the 360 under both my favorite dunk to throw down.
If you have not heard the news yet, the DunkMan League is Shaq’s new pro dunking circuit. 24 dunkers, $500,000 prize pool, live-streamed on TNT this summer. I am one of the 24. Below are the full quotes from my interview with Dennis, my honest answers about where I sit in the field, and why the dunkers in this league are about to put on something the NBA Slam Dunk Contest could not.
Why Shaq Built the DunkMan League
Dennis opened the conversation by asking me what DunkMan even is, and the honest answer is that this league exists because Shaq has been watching dunkers like me put down stuff nobody in the NBA dunk contest could ever match.
“Shaq started a dunk league. He saw that dunkers outside of the NBA were better than any NBA dunk contest ever. So he wanted to start it and see who’s the best dunker in the world. So he got 24 of the best dunkers in the world, and we’re all gonna compete for $500,000.”
Then Dennis asked the question every fan asks me. How do you actually tell who the best dunker is? Here is what I told him:
“There’s always been a scoring system, where judges are given tens. But it’s always been like celebrity judges, so it’s never been super accurate who’s the best dunker in the world. So with DunkMan, they’re gonna give a new scoring system, in hopes to find a more accurate best dunker in the world.”
For the first time, the people who watch this sport are going to get an answer that is actually based on the dunk, not on how loud the crowd was that night.
Where I Rank Among the 24
Dennis pushed me to be honest about where I sit in the field. I gave him the honest answer:
“I’ll be honest, I’m a little cocky right now, but I think I’m definitely in the top five.”
I do not think top five is wishful thinking. The reason I believe it is that top-tier dunking comes down to three traits, and the dunkers who actually win contests have all three:
“It’s style, it’s power, it’s vertical, and not a lot of dunkers have all three of those, but I feel like I have a good combination of those.”
Most dunkers in the world have one or two of those. Some are pure verticals and just throw it down hard. Some have style and finesse but cannot get high enough. Some have power but no creativity. I work on all three every single day in the gym, and that is why I am walking into DunkMan with the goal of top five at the floor.
My Best Dunk: The 360 Under Both
Dennis asked what my best dunk right now is, and the answer is the one I am most proud of training up to:
“My best dunk right now is the 360 under both. I’m not sure how many people in the world can do that, but I don’t think it’s over 10.”
The 360 under both is a full rotation in the air, then both legs come over the ball, and the finish lands clean. Fewer than 10 people on the planet have it. That is the kind of dunk that ends a round in a contest, because every dunker who comes after has to match it. You can see the full catalog of my verified dunks on my World Dunk Association profile.
Why Non-NBA Dunkers Are Actually the Best in the World
This is the part of the conversation I get asked about the most. People assume the NBA Slam Dunk Contest is the highest level of dunking in the world, and it just is not. Here is how I explained it to Dennis:
“NBA players are training for plenty of things, like their agility. But not only that, their stamina. They have to last an entire game. Us dunkers, we only have to jump for one second, so we’re able to train more specifically for jumping. And because people have a niche over that and just obsess over it, we’re able to get better faster.”
NBA players are some of the most athletic humans on the planet, but their training is spread across agility, stamina, conditioning, defense, and a 48-minute game. Their surface area is huge. Mine is a one-second window where I jump as high as I can with full creative control over my body in the air. That is the entire job. When you obsess over a single niche like that, you compound faster than someone who is trying to be elite at ten things at once.
This is the same principle that Dennis and BlitzMetrics teach on the marketing side, and it is exactly what Dylan Haugen and I talk about on the Dunk Talk Podcast. Specialists win.
Where DunkMan Is Headed
Dennis closed by asking where the league is going. Here is the picture:
“It’s gonna be live-streamed on TNT, and there’s an Instagram account, dunkmanofficial. You’ll see all the clips on there… There’s been a lot of publicity, and I think you’re gonna see things that you’ll never seen before.”
The clips already going up on @dunkmanofficial are nuts, and the actual competition has not even started. Once we get on the floor in front of TNT cameras with $500K on the line and a new scoring system, the level is going to be higher than anything dunking has had before.
What People Need to Know About Me
Dennis asked me what people should know about Cam Hazzard. I gave him the only answer I have:
“Don’t ignore me for too long, because I’m gonna show up, and you never heard my name before, but you’re gonna know it eventually.”
That is the whole point of this run. I have been the guy nobody has dunked with yet. I have been the guy who only shows up in his local college gym clips. I am about to show up on a stage where every dunk gets seen by everyone. Top five in DunkMan first, then keep going.
If you want to follow the road to TNT this summer, you can find me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or pull every platform together at my Connect page. Thank you to Dennis Yu for sitting down with me in Dallas. The full interview is up at the top of this page.