The fans are bored with the basic 360-degree slam-dunk. All the variations of this dunk have been exhausted. The is the Statue of Liberty, 360 reverse, standard 360, windmill 360 and the normal 360 with some added flare of legs spread.
Finally basketball is taking a page out of the snowboarding world and pushing the dunk forward. Five years ago snowboarders were only spinning once and today snowboarders are spinning two and three revolutions in air to perform more sophisticated and advanced tricks.
What does this have to do with basketball, just ask, Taurian Fontenette? He is so good he has two nicknames “Air Up there” and “Mr. 720”. He is the first dunker to rotate 720 degrees and dunk. It is one of the most amazing things you will ever see. It is ridiculous how high he gets.
He is actually looking down through the rim. Taurian Fontenette was born, 1983 in Hitchcock, TX and where he continues to reside. He attended the University of Texas at El Paso 2000-01, Richard Junior College and Paul Quinn College in 2004-05. He was the 2005 AND 1 Mix Tape Tour endorsement contract winner- The Air Up There was awarded his contract in Philly on August 27th at the final stop of the 2005 tour.
The AND1 Tour features the best streetball players in the world. The inventive nicknames, relaxed rules and live DJ make it more of variety show than a basketball game. The game mainly consists of one-on-one moves showcasing dribbling and dunking. In 2006 game in Houston Texas he wowed the crowd with his signature 720-degree dunk.
He is also performed his well-known signature dunk, the axle-rider, a 360-degree stunt that he brings the ball between between-legs which he performed during in his high school days, long before numerous NBA dunk specialists copied it. Taurian is considered the best and only dunker to do a 720 degree dunk so easily that no one could ever think about trying to perform this stunt.
It is an extremely popular tour and many of the players have turned pro, including Taurian Fontenette. Due to naming rights he had to stop using his nickname “Air Up there” and started using “Mr. 720” when he left the AND1 tour.
This season he signed a contract with the Dallas General of the American Basketball League. One of his early successes was the winning of the coveted 2010 amateur Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown. Lebron James, Drake and Darryl Dawkins, chocolate thunder, judged the contest. Lebron got up and walked away after Mr. 720 performed his last dunk. The 720 dunk and Mr. 720 have captured worldwide attention.
He has also been featured for a commercial for DLP HDTV, has played in played in numerous charity games and on the “Best Damn Sports Show”. As his legend grows and he elevates his dunking to new levels with the 360 double axle grinder he will become more mainstream and more visible. The NBA may be the next step if he continues to play well in the Dallas Generals.
NBA stars should take notice; if Taurain Fontenette rises to the NBA he will bring his show to larger audiences and start dunking over the greats like Kobe, Lebron, Dwade, Dwight Howard and all the others. He will bring a new excitement to the NBA slam-dunk contest and give it an infusion of showmanship and spellbinding theatrics.