Picture Credit: X
Miami Heat rookie forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. slammed a staggering dunk over former Heat legend Shaquille O’Neal during the All-Star Slam Dunk contest on February 18, Sunday (IST). The Mexican was the first to compete in the opening round of the two-round competition donning a ‘Heat Culture’ jersey. In his first attempt, the four-time NBA Championship winner Shaq stood in the lane facing the basket. Jaquez came from behind and elevated about Shaq to complete his first dunk for the night.
The Hall of Famer recorded the dunk on his ‘Shaq Cam’ as Jaquez jumped over him, stunning the crowd in the arena. In his second attempt, Jaquez threw down a self-lob two-handed dunk that scored 46.8 out of 50 from the judges, including Gary Payton, Mitch Richmond, Darnell Hillman, Dominique Wilkins, and Fred Jones. The 23-year-old participated in the contest with several stars, including Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Mac McClung from Osceola Magic, and New York Knicks forward Jacob Toppin. McClung won the contest for the second year in a row.
I didn't realize how serious this process was gonna be: Jaime Jaquez
Before the contest, Jacquez spoke on Paul George’s podcast and said, "I didn't realize how serious this process was gonna be. That's what I was telling myself the whole time. I'm just banking on the adrenaline. Obviously, taking a lot of inspiration from a lot of different places, everybody can do crazy dunks, so you gotta put your own little twist on things.” Coming back to the All-Star weekend, the Slam Dunk contest was Jaquez’s second appearance in the event.
Earlier, he participated in the Rising Stars competition, where his side was eliminated in the opening round of the two-round contest. He was Heat’s first participant in the competition since Derrick Jones Jr. in 2020, where Jones won. Apart from him, the only names to participate in the event from the franchise were Harold Miner and Billy Thompson.
