Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. dunks over Shaq, embraces Mexican roots in 1st dunk contest

MIAMI – It was a weekend to remember for Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Jaquez, who turned 23 on Sunday, was able to take part in the Slam Dunk Contest as part of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Jaquez wasn’t able to celebrate his birthday with the NBA’s slam dunk crown, but he was able to dunk over a Miami Heat legend and celebrate his Mexican roots in the contest.

Jaquez had former Heat center Shaquille O’Neal stand at the edge of the restricted area and cleared the 7-foot-1 NBA Hall of Famer before throwing down a powerful one-handed jam on his first dunk attempt.

Jaquez told reporters that he chose O’Neal as the person to jump over after a video recently resurfaced from when he was a young child and said “I’m dunking like Shaq” before throwing it down on his little plastic basketball hoop.

In his second dunk attempt, Jaquez honored his Mexican roots as the Mexican flag and the five Mexican NBA players who came before him appeared on the LED glass court before his turn.

donned a black “El Heat Cultura” jersey to pay homage to his Latino background. In that dunk attempt, the rookie bounced the ball to himself and double-clutched before spinning 180 degrees and finishing with a dunk attempt with an average score of 48.6.

Jaquez’s two dunks in the first round received a composite score of 94.2, the lowest among the four participants.

Jaquez’s memorable dunks weren’t enough to unseat McClung, who became the fifth back-to-back dunk contest winner in NBA history, joining Michael Jordan, Jason Richardson, Nate Robinson and Zach LaVine. McClung, of the G League’s Osceola Magic, has only appeared in four NBA games this season.