The British Basketball League delivered a showstopping basketball dunk competition, brought to you by General Tire, at the top of The O2 to celebrate the countdown to the play-off finals later this month.

Leicester Riders star and high-flyer Blake Bowman headed 52 metres up onto the iconic roof of The O2, with roofwalk attraction Up at The O2 which provides panoramic views overlooking London’s skyline, to recreate a series of epic slam dunks from this year’s regular basketball season.

Bowman performed and recreated one iconic dunk for each of the qualifying teams who have made it through to this year’s BBL play-offs, including Josh Sharma’s jam for the London Lions.

A panel of experts were on hand to decide which dunk would be crowned the BBL’s ‘Dunk of the Season’ including WBBL board member Siobhan Prior, Behrad Bakhtiari and Denzel Kazembe from Simply British Ballers and leading basketball reporter Sam Neter from the dedicated British basketball website, Hoopsfix. 

After eight outstanding dunk recreations, it was Bowman’s very own windmill jam that came out on top, crowning him champion of the BBL “Now You Know” Dunk Challenge, brought to you by General Tire.

The activity, hosted by British Basketball master of ceremonies Tahir Hajat, celebrates another incredible year for the British Basketball League which continues to showcase the appetite for basketball in the UK, while also raising awareness for the season defining play-off finals at The O2 on Sunday May 14. 

An expected capacity crowd of close to 17,000 fans are set to generate an electric atmosphere inside The O2, with the BBL’s flagship event also set to be broadcast live on Sky Sports. 

Fans from across the world are also encouraged to vote for their favourite dunk from the season by using the #BritishDunks and #NowYouKnow. 

Joe Edwards, BBL Head of Marketing and Communications, said: “This season the British Basketball League has made history and we’ve taken the sport we all love to new heights. We wanted to do something to grab the attention of Basketball fans and the general public and celebrate the end-of-season play-offs at The O2. 

“Whilst a completely crazy idea it might seem, it made complete sense to do this, and we hope Basketball fans worldwide enjoy what the British Basketball League has to offer. I want to say a special thanks to our partner General Tire, and all of our other partners, the players and our staff for sharing our vision together and making this possible.”

British Basketball has never been at such a high - in every sense of the word - after another meteoric year for the league, which has seen incredible progress on and off the court. 

The league has had record viewership across its broadcast, fans have packed into arenas across the country each week and the men’s champions, London Lions, proudly flew the flag for UK basketball in a record breaking run in the EuroCup. 

The trophy all teams dream of lifting is still up for grabs, with the play-off final set to thrill a sold-out crowd at The O2 on Sunday May 14.

Just four teams remain standing and fighting for the chance to compete in the play-off finals, as London Lions face Cheshire Phoenix, whilst Bristol Flyers do battle with last season’s champions Leicester Riders to try to book their tickets to the capital. 

Tickets for the event are selling fast and fans can grab the last few remaining tickets by visiting https://www.bbl.org.uk/2023playoffs/. 

Fans unable to make the finals will be able to tune in live on Sky Sports and the Sky Sports YouTube Channel on Sunday May 14 from 1pm.