When you dunk the ball, it lets the opposition know your mentality.?It lets them know you’re there to humiliate them. It also sets an?emotional tone with your teammates. It lets them know you’re going?to climb mountains this game and inspires them to want to climb?with you.

Now, you can’t just attack the cup and hope to dunk. You have to?know your own limitations. More than that, you have to know the?defense. To do that, you have to study film and watch how?opponents like to block shots. If you’re prepared with that info—with the hand they prefer to rise up with, the situations they’ll back?down in—you’ll know how to attack and confront them.

Dikembe Mutombo was, obviously, one of the greatest defensive?players of all time. He was long and lean, and he knew what he?could get away with. One of the things he was great at was using his?left hand to subtly try to pull you down or at least knock you off balance in the air. That, in particular, was so crafty because it?appeared fundamentally sound, but in reality he was using that?hand as a weapon.

My response in that situation was simple: I had to let Dikembe know?that I was the real threat and not him. So, like him, I’d use my left?arm and elbow. They would create space, but more important,?they’d send a message: if you come any higher, you’re going to run?into my arm and it won’t be fun for you.

Like always, you want to be the one dishing out the punishment.?And the dunks.