When the person known across the NBA because the dunk guru is blown away by your skills, you may be ready for a breakout performance on the national stage.
Chuck Millan worked with Jericho Sims last week in Tarrytown after the Knicks’ big man was added as one among 4 contestants for this 12 months’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City.
Millan, a former skilled dunker and the CEO of Team Flight Brothers, believes Saturday’s showcase competition could make for a coming-out party for the 6-foot-10 Sims as a consequence of his freakish jumping ability.
“Individuals are definitely gonna be wowed by him. He’s coming right out of the gate with some stuff that hasn’t happened before. If people don’t know who Jericho Sims is, they’re gonna know on Saturday night who he’s,” Millan told The Post in a phone interview Friday. “What I can say is I’ve been within the dunk business for 20 years now, whether it’s the skilled dunkers or NBA guys. Jericho, anything you’ve seen of him, you will have no idea how high this kid can really jump.
“I can truthfully say it’s the very best I’ve ever seen anyone recover from the rim in my life. And that’s saying quite a bit. I’ve since Vince Carter in his prime going to the highest of the backboard. Jericho has a few dunks which have never been done before.”
Sims, whose 44.5-inch vertical leap was the third-highest recorded within the history of the NBA Draft mix in 2019, was a late addition to this 12 months’s field as a alternative for Portland’s Shaedon Sharpe. The second-year center will compete with Kenyon Martin Jr. (Rockets), Mac McClung (76ers, G League) and Trey Murphy Jr. (Pelicans).
Millan has worked with all 4 players on their dunks and described them as having “4 different dunking styles.” The 24-year-old Sims recently was shown in a viral video together with his head above the rim.
“Yeah, he can get his shoulder on the rim, and he can try this at any time when he wants. It’s crazy,” Millan said. “I’ve seen guys with the vertical that he has, 45-46 inches of vertical, but never on any person that’s 6-foot-10.
“It’s an enormous difference. When he jumps as high as he can, and does some of these things he can do, I believe the group goes to react more so, like, not going crazy, but, like, in shock. Like, what just happened? That’s how we’ve all reacted. Like even the NBA production crew was like what the hell was that? It’s been pretty cool to see for us, and that is what we do every single day.”
The 39-year-old Millan has tutored several past dunk champions, including Sims’ teammate Obi Toppin, who won last 12 months’s contest to hitch Kenny Walker (1989) and three-time winner Nate Robinson (2006, 2009, 2010) to take that title. Toppin even executed one among his winning dunks with a leap over Millan.
Toppin declined to participate this 12 months, Millan said, partly to present Sims the chance to compete.
“Obi was pretty adamant about that. He initially was leaning towards doing it, but he was like, ‘If I pull out, will my teammate get a probability?’ ” Millan said. “And it ended up understanding that way.
“But additionally, Obi has not written off dunk contests in the long run. I believe Obi is waiting for his brother to get to the league, after which they will form of have a brotherly showdown at All-Star weekend.”
Toppin’s younger brother, Jacob, is a senior forward at Kentucky, averaging 11.9 points per game.
Millan played what he described as “minimally” as a university player at Sacramento State twenty years ago, and he initially took a job at Nike in brand activation doing dunks at events in Asia and Europe. His company provides dunks for halftime shows across the league, and the NBA officially has made him available to work with dunk contest participants since 2018.
Past winners equivalent to Terrence Ross, John Wall, Donovan Mitchell and Derrick Jones, Jr. even have credited Millan with their dunking success.
“This,” Millan said, “is my Super Bowl, man.”
