By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino Asian import Rhenz Abando shocked the whole Korean Basketball League (KBL) after winning the 2023 All-Star Slam Dunk competition last January 15, 2023, held at the Suwon KT Sonicboom Arena.
The high-flying young superstar pulled off a set of jaw-dropping slamma jammas from the first round to the championship stage and edged the three Koreans who also participated in the event.
There was no warm-up needed for Abando after he immediately brought the house down with an impressive 360 dunk.
After his successful attempt, Abando signaled Vince Carter’s famous “It’s Over” hand signal while the judges raised their perfect 10’s.
Abando then called his co-Pinoy Asian import RJ Abarrientos for his second dunk attempt and planned an off-the-side board slam.
The collegiate duo perfectly executed the second dunk that put him at the top of the competition’s leaderboard. Abando then put the crowd to their feet again after a backboard tap jam for his last dunk of the elimination round.
Abando’s backboard tap jam was an unexpected one when everyone thought he would be going for a double-handed power jam but opted to tap the board and threw a mini reverse dunk.
The championship round was a walk in the park for the former Gilas Pilipinas young cadet who completed an emphatic windmill dunk in his first attempt.
Abando then wrapped up his title-clinching performance with a double-clutch dunk which completed his 100-point stint.
The Filipino All-Star ousted Ha Yungi of Suwon KT, Park Jincheol of Goyang, and Choi Jin Soo of Ulsan Hyundai Mobis.
