Shaq’s DunkMan League gave dunking something it has never really had before: a professional season with a league format, a real stage, and a major prize. Dylan Haugen and I sat down to go through every dunk from the four group stages, including the night we watched in Atlanta and the rounds we followed on video.
We covered the competition from a dunker’s point of view. Watch the full Dunk Talk breakdown here.
A format that rewards smart choices
Each group had six dunkers. In the first round, everyone had three dunks and two attempts per dunk. The lowest score was dropped, then the average of the two best scores decided who advanced. Three dunkers moved into the final round, where each had two more dunks and two attempts. The single best dunk determined the group winner.
That changes the way you approach a contest. You do not have to make every dunk, but you do have to know when to use a reliable one and when to take a risk. One miss does not end the night. A strong finish can matter more than a perfect set of safe dunks. It is a format that gives a dunker room to show something new while still rewarding consistency.
Cam Hazzard showed that in Group A. He opened with a reverse 360 windmill so high that the ball hit the floor before he did. Later, after missing a 360 East Bay, he came back with his usual 360 inverter and made it first try. In the final he hit a 360 pump into a full tomahawk, a rare dunk that looked even bigger because he had so much space to finish it. He won the group and dunk of the night.
Four winners, four different styles
The other group winners were Dylan McCarthy, Isaiah Rivera and Mac McClung. Dylan McCarthy’s bounce is hard to explain until you watch it, and Isaiah’s ability to hit difficult dunks with either plant makes him a threat whenever he steps on the floor. Mac brought his own creativity and made a 540 look almost casual. Each group had a different feel, but all four winners showed that a great contest dunk can come from a different kind of athlete.
The league also kept the door open for four wild cards. Jordan Southerland took the fifth seed, Dylan Haugen the sixth, Joel Henry the seventh and Chen the eighth. That mattered because the group winners were not the only dunkers worth watching. Joel’s reverse 360 East Bay off a lob and Chen’s double-up East Bay over six people were the kind of dunks that stick with you even if they did not take the group.
I had watched Group A in person with Dylan and Ben. The other stages showed what the league could do across a wider range of dunkers. We saw athletes take different routes through the same format, and it made the competition easier to follow as a fan and more interesting to talk through as a dunker.
Dunking is ready for a real stage
When I competed in the original DunkMan show, it was a one-off event. Turning that idea into a league is a big step. A professional format gives dunkers something clear to train for. You can study the rounds, think about the scoring, build a contest-ready set of dunks and know what you are preparing for.
There is still room to improve how any new league explains its rules to a casual viewer. But the first season showed how much talent is out there and how exciting the sport can be when dunking gets the main stage. The athletes were not squeezed into halftime. People came to watch them, the cameras stayed on the action, and the competition had a story from the first group through the final bracket.
If you want to see what the first night felt like from under the rim, read my account of watching DunkMan in person. And if you want the story behind why I kept showing up to dunk, start with my full dunk journey.