Why NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal Is Launching A Pro Dunking League
· Yahoo Sports
Shaquille O'Neal is helping launch DUNKMAN, a new, professional dunking league.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
TNT SportsIt’s no secret the that the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest has become a middling event.
“It’s been (bleep) for the last 12 years. It hurts my heart,” Shaquille O’Neal exclusively shared. “When I was growing up, the All-Star Game was cool … but that dunk contest and three-point shootout, that was the highlight.”
Creating a better dunking platform was the NBA Hall of Famer/successful businessman’s motivation to create the professional DUNKMAN league.
Formed through a partnership between O’Neal, Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceuticals and TNT Sports, the first professional league of dunking will debut in the summer 2026. The inaugural season will feature 24 of the best dunkers competing live in a brand-new league format.
During four group stage events, athletes will battle for a spot in the DUNKMANworld championship. Finalists will compete for a grand prize of $500,000.
“We decided to make a league and treat those guys as professionals,” O’Neal said.
The former Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic star will serve as the DUNKMAN league commissioner. His responsibilities will include creating the matchups and helping with the point system in which judges evaluate hangtime and vertical leap while determining which dunkers advance and who is ultimately crowned DUNKMAN world champion.
O’Neal’s Business Portfolio
Commissioner of the DUNKMAN league is yet another gig for O’Neal, an omnipresent basketball figure and entrepreneur.
His latest product is a Slams version of his Shaq-A-Licious gummies, giving the candy a new, fourth flavor.
His licensing partners also includes SHAQ footwear, JCPenney, BeatBox beverages, Rooms To Go furniture, Shaq’s Fun House parties and Big Chicken restaurants.
O’Neal said the secret to his business success is just pursuing things he enjoys.
“We just have fun,” O’Neal said. “I measure success by just getting out there with my team and all of us working hard, and if it’s good, it’s good. If it’s not, then we just do something else. I actually like to fail … it just means, ‘Hey, man, you’ve got to work harder.’”
Gummies are O’Neal’s favorite kind of candies, and Shaq-A-Licious was the official gummy of the NCAA Tournament. That was just part of the way O’Neal was a constant presence at March Madness.
Hours before the national championship game, he recorded The Big Podcast, which featured Joakim Noah as a guest, live from the Bullseye Event Center a block from Lucas Oil Stadium. And as part of a three-year NCAA partnership, O’Neal was featured in do-it-yourself-themed commercials for Home Depot during March Madness.
O’Neal’s Dunking Roots
Amazingly, not long before his own college campaign at LSU began, O’Neal was unable to dunk a basketball. He first started dunking a basketball during his senior year of high school at Robert G. Cole High in Texas after beginning with a tennis ball and then transitioning to a baseball.
He went on to break two backboards during his dominant NBA playing career, but his favorite dunk is one he called “the Black Tornado” over fellow superstar David Robinson.
The new global league, which celebrates all kinds of dunking, builds on the success of last year’s DUNKMAN television series.
Sports studio analyst Adam Lefkoe received numerous texts from friends whose sons and daughters were “obsessed” with that show.
“Kids were like: ‘I want to watch this show,’” Lefkoe exclusively shared. “I’ve never had that happen before.”
Lefkoe expressed his excitement in becoming the host of the DUNKMAN league, which will air across TNT, TBS, TruTV and HBO Max with additional content on DUNKMAN social channels, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and YouTube.
And that professional dunking league could serve as an improvement over the current iteration of the NBA’s annual dunk exhibition during All-Star weekend.
“The top players are scared to compete,” O’Neal said.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com