Known for his spectacular hops, Canadian slam dunker Jordan Kilganon once mesmerized Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq took to his Instagram and shared a story that showed a part from Jordan Kilganon’s Instagram video, who posted a self-narration describing the events that led to his car dunk on Dunk King 2, in 2017.
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Shaq recalls 7 year old dunk contest pic.twitter.com/IQ3LPa54U6
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Shaq was one of the judges alongside Brent Berry and Kenny Smith during the Dunk King 2 when this instance happened. This panel was rating the Semi-final battle between Kilganon and Davene Carter. To start the contest, Carter “crushed” the windmill dunk. Then the Canadian power jammer came up with a special dunk.
“I was in the zone so I looked lovingly into Shaq’s eyes and punched this 360 scoop to get a perfect score from judges,” narrated the athletic wonder.
In response, Carter missed a behind-the-back slam which meant that Kilganon could do a basic dunk and win the contest. However, he came up with something even more special than his first slam. He wanted to “go big or go home”.
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The Canadian jammer placed a car underneath the rim to perform an over-the-car jam. His mom Jeanne Suave felt a gulp in the throat because when her son was younger, he injured his face while attempting a similar dunk. However, he nailed a no-look slam over the vehicle this time in what he called “still the cleanest car dunk to date”.
Shaq wasn’t the only one who witnessed the glorious dunker first-hand. His former championship teammate Gary was in fact a part of his slam.
Jordan Kilganon stunned Gary Payton
During a 2016 NBA House event in Rio, Kilganon left Gary Payton speechless. He entered the court wearing casuals and shades, looking like an average audience member. Then he asked ‘The Glove’ to hold the ball high near the rim, indicating that he was going to get the ball from that high up and go for the slam. Payton reacted, “He ain’t gonna do it.” But against his expectations, the high-flyer nailed a clean windmill in a quick motion.
During his second jam, he went behind the back and switched the ball from left to right hand to insert yet another impressive slam. Upon viewing these acrobatic feats, the Glove contorted his face to express disbelief. Then he appeared to say, “Who’s that?“, as he dapped Kilgonon.
Considering Payton played with one of the best dunkers Shawn Kemp and witnessed a peerless jammer Vince Carter, his expression sums up the effect Kilganon’s dunks can have even on hooping legends.