Miami Heat's Jaime Jaquez Jr. Has Surprise In Store For Dunk Contest

Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. recently shared his game plan for this year's NBA dunk contest

Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. is wasting no time involving himself in NBA All-Star Weekend activities.

He is competing in the AT&T Slam Dunk contest along with star Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), defending champion Mac McClung (Osceola Magic), and forward Jacob Toppin (New York Knicks). 

Jaquez unveiled a piece of his plan to victory on 'Podcast P with Paul George'.

"I think I got one dunk that you guys are gonna be surprised to see," Jaquez said. "We got a lot of work behind the scenes being put into the creativity of all this."

Jaquez's dunking was on full display when he emerged victorious in a dunk contest against Philadelphia 76ers forward Kenyon Martin Jr. and Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Drake London in 2019. The former UCLA Bruins' dunks were highlighted by a windmill over two men and between-the-legs slam.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. has some tricks up his sleeve for Saturday's dunk contest 👀@ATT pic.twitter.com/PLnvMR56WO

— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) February 12, 2024

Jaquez went on to detail the process behind training for the contest with George who has competed twice.

"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," Jaquez shared. "That's what I'm looking forward to doing. I think you got a lot of great jumpers and great dunkers in there. In game dunking is one thing, but a dunk contest is another. It's about, you know, being creative and having good tricks and stuff like that."

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Anthony Pasciolla works as a contributing writer to Inside the Heat.

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