When it comes to making a name for himself with the very best professional dunkers in the world, Sudbury native Jordan Kilganon is equal parts jaw-dropping athleticism and artistic creativity.

Having now established himself to the point that he travels the globe as a guest of all those who recognize the innate ability of these athletes to gather a crowd to witness their feats of wonder, Kilganon has always prided himself on thinking a little outside of the box – at least outside of the box in which most of his competitors reside.

“A lot of pro dunkers get their six dunks or so and they do them really well, but they only try a new one every once in a while,” said the 30 year-old graduate of Ecole secondaire du Sacré-Coeur. “I’m up to 250 different dunks now and that gets me a lot more followers than the average dunker – and more gigs and opportunities.”

Initially deciding to pursue whatever avenues availed themselves in the world of specialist basketball dunking as far back as 2012-2013 or so, Kilganon was fortunate to befriend Nils Wagner (Hoopmixtape) very early in his career, creating far greater name recognition than otherwise would have been the case.

“He gave me a huge boost in popularity,” said one of three very athletic brothers in the family. “We began to work on projects together. Lucky for me, one of the things I most like to do is create new dunks – and the audience liked to see that as well.”

In his mind, Kilganon draws inspiration for his new creations in one of two ways – the second of which is easily his greatest source of pride. For starters, one can simply do a combination using the basics of dunks that they have already more or less perfected.

“So you can take a basic between the legs dunk or a 360 dunk and combine them together,” he explained. “Then you add in off the backboard and between the legs and a 360 dunk. It’s all about trying different combinations – and my brain has gotten pretty good at thinking of things, adding every single variation possible, basically.”

“The other way – the harder way – is coming up with a completely new variation that has never been thought of before,” Kilganon continued. “Those kind of happen by accident, if that makes sense.”

Well, yes – and no.

Kilganon will spend an inordinate amount of time doing what likely looks to ordinary folks like me as “simply playing around”, just moving randomly, as he describes it, letting his body contort in any way imaginable, all while doing so with a basketball in his hands.

Ironically, it is at least in part his passion for the inner workings of human kinetics that has also helped him maintain his body in some semblance of “game shape” given the pounding that is inflicted on his joints as he tackles attempt after attempt in search of the perfect dunk.

“I have a huge interest in how the body works,” noted Kilganon. “If I didn’t do dunking, I would likely do physio or something – and I’m fortunate enough to be around some of the best people in the world because of my job.”

“I have a great team and I don’t just have the treat me, I have them teach me so that I can take care of myself after that.”

From a very modest start that would lead to appearances at Rucker Park in Harlem (New York) and at the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown in New Orleans in 2014, Kilganon has travelled much of the world, citing the Ghetto Games in Latvia (2018), Dunk League contests and a pair of shows as part of the NBA All-Star weekend festivities as among his favourite all-time events.

That said, our most recent encounter came during the home opener of the Sudbury Five season last month, a chance to perform live in front of so many folks who could only rely on You Tube video to get a sense of the phenomenal athleticism of the proud northern Ontario lad.

“Honestly, it was so, so nice,” said Kilganon. “So many of my friends and my family came out; my dad said it was the best day of his life when I dunked over him and both of my brothers.”

Not necessarily a new dunk, but a very special one just the same for a young man who is as creative as they come when it comes to levitating near the rim of a ten-foot basket and slamming the ball home, in every way imaginable.