It would be easy to assume that the means to an end for Jordan Kilganon is fairly straight-forward, that the hours and hours that he spends working on developing his now world-famous dunks provides the means so that the end result is competitive success, giving way to the paycheques that accompany successful dunk competition performances.

Kilganon, however, suggests the complete opposite is true.

Walking away last fall with the largest reward for his world class skills ($200,000 - USD), Kilganon was more than happy to get back to work – in what is, without a doubt, his truly happy place.

“My number one passion is still inventing dunks,” said Kilganon, sharing some time over the holidays to chat and reminisce on an incredible few months. “I will do what I have to do to win a dunk contest. It’s not my passion – even though I do like the pressure, I do like being in front of a crowd.”

“Usually, I will try and make some money so that I can stay home longer, inventing new dunks.”

It is somewhat the signature M.O. (modus operandi) for the acknowledged greatest dunker on the planet, topping an incredible field of talent in the Dunkman Championship, hosted in Atlanta in late 2025, with a judges’ panel that included retired NBA stars Shaquille O’Neal, Vince Carter and Chris Webber.

“The most fun for me is creating a new dunk and figuring out how to make it possible.”

Now more than a decade into an undertaking that first started as something of a side hobby, Kilganon estimates that he has assembled, over time, some 290 distinct dunks – though many variations might emerge from a singular base move.

“The more creative I got, the easier it was to create new dunks,” explained the 33 year-old graduate of Ecole secondaire Sacré-Coeur. “You always think that you’re going to run out of new dunks. But I’ll go outside to a low rim (basket) and after ten minutes of messing around, I’ll have ten new ideas for dunks.”

Truth be told, he may have just oversimplified the process a little.

Expand on the above and one discovers a world where Jordan Kilganon goes to painstaking length to uncover his “Eureka” moment, that very genesis of the Scorpion or 360 Scoop Elbow.

“After every single dunk that I try, I go back and look at the footage,” said Kilganon. “Just imagine how many thousands of dunks I’ve done in my lifetime and the process of back and forth, back and forth.”

That said, it’s also, in his opinion, a critical element of what sets him apart.

Yes, the genetics are there, his father (Rick) one of the most naturally gifted athletes to grace the basketball courts of Ecole secondaire Hanmer and the ball diamonds of the Terry Fox Sports Complex.

But the super powers of Jordan Kilganon encompass at least a few other less obvious personal traits.

“I honestly think that it’s the way my brain works, in terms of the creativity, for one, but also my understanding and obsession with how the body works,” he said. “I will try, on purpose, to move in random directions, almost forcing an accidental movement.”

“I can watch someone else trying a dunk and to me, it’s so obvious what they are doing wrong. Somehow, they’re not seeing it.”

His schedule these days stands in stark contrast to the one that the fresh-out-of-college student initially embraced as he took the first few steps on a pathway that he could have never possibly imagined.

“When I first started, it seemed that every weekend, I was at a different event, in a different country,” Kilganon recalled. “I am fortunate that I have gotten to the point where I don’t have to accept every event. I honestly don’t do that many events anymore.

Now, I stay at home and train and create content.”

Though he loves to travel, he loves being at the heart of the genesis of a new dunk even more.

Through it all, Jordan Kilganon has remained incredibly grounded and more than just a tad appreciative of all that has come his way – even while recognizing the hours and hours of work (and bumps and bruises and worse) that are at the root of his rise to the top of the dunking ladder.

“I am so wildly lucky to do what I do. It’s the coolest thing in the world.”