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CLEVELAND – Wait, he can dunk?
“Oh yeah,” Kasparas Jakucionis said Friday with a smile, “that’s AI. It was AI.”
“Totally AI,” Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn chimed in moments earlier, as the Heat completed their game-day shootaround ahead of Friday night’s rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.
Only, it wasn’t, with the Heat’s social-media team on hand to chronicle the feats of unexpected athleticism of the 19-year-old guard during an optional Thursday team practice.
In fact, it was no less than assistant coach Caron Butler egging on the No. 20 pick in last June draft out of Illinois.
“Hey,” Butler said amid the video released on the Heat’s social-media feeds, “if he becomes an athletic guard, he can become a Hall of Famer.”
And, with that, Jakucionis dunked off a high-bouncing self-pass, similar to the effort of teammate Keshad Johnson, when Johnson won the dunk contest in February during All-Star Weekend.
Friday, though, as teammates chided the neophyte Lithuanian, Jakucionis attempted to advance the AI theory.
“They generated a pretty good likeness,” he said with a youthful grin. “Yeah, I think the AI is kind of getting out of hand now, and it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.”
What’s real is that Jakucionis went into Friday night still without an NBA dunk.
“It depends on the opportunities and how I feel that day, and if I get the chance,” he said of the potential breakthrough moment.
The 6-foot-5 guard said he had one dunk during his lone season at Illinois, but had broken the dunk barrier while even younger during his two professional years in Spain from 2022 to 2024.
“Actually,” he said, “I had some more dunks in Barcelona than I did in college.”
With Butler egging him on, and with teammates Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Simone Fontecchio casting doubt about the ability, Jakucionis decided it was showtime.
“I don’t know why they didn’t believe in me,” he said. “All year I was telling them that I can dunk. But, you know, I wouldn’t show because I like to just keep it a secret. But, yeah, no one believed in me here.
“I think all the haters here, Jaime didn’t believe in me, Simo, no one believed in me. So I kind of just had to prove them wrong,”
At the 2025 NBA draft combine in Chicago, Jakucionis ranked No. 36 in terms of standing vertical leap, at 28.5 inches (as a means of comparison, Spurs forward Drake Powell, runner-up to Johnson at the All-Star dunk contest, was at 37.5 inches). In terms of maximum vertical leap, Jackucionis ranked 30th at 35 inches (with Powell topping those rankings at 43 inches).
Asked if he knew his current verticals, Jakucionis retreated to his altered reality.
“It’s not that much,” he said. “I told you it’s AI, so I don’t know what to tell.”
Having surfaced on the injury report with an ankle sprain, Jaquez was cleared at Friday’s shootaround.
Jaquez, in his second game back after missing two due to hip tightness, said he twisted the ankle during Wednesday night’s victory over the Cavaliers when he tried to jump into a passing lane and landed on the foot of Cavaliers guard James Harden.
“It was definitely painful,” he said. “It never is pleasant rolling an ankle. Initially the pain is pretty severe, but after a little bit it kind of winds down.”
He said he could have returned to Wednesday night’s game if needed after checking out for good with 6:42 to play.
“But we were already in such a good groove,” Jaquez said, “and the guys that were out there were playing so great.”
Continue reading...
“Oh yeah,” Kasparas Jakucionis said Friday with a smile, “that’s AI. It was AI.”
“Totally AI,” Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn chimed in moments earlier, as the Heat completed their game-day shootaround ahead of Friday night’s rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.
Only, it wasn’t, with the Heat’s social-media team on hand to chronicle the feats of unexpected athleticism of the 19-year-old guard during an optional Thursday team practice.
In fact, it was no less than assistant coach Caron Butler egging on the No. 20 pick in last June draft out of Illinois.
“Hey,” Butler said amid the video released on the Heat’s social-media feeds, “if he becomes an athletic guard, he can become a Hall of Famer.”
And, with that, Jakucionis dunked off a high-bouncing self-pass, similar to the effort of teammate Keshad Johnson, when Johnson won the dunk contest in February during All-Star Weekend.
Friday, though, as teammates chided the neophyte Lithuanian, Jakucionis attempted to advance the AI theory.
“They generated a pretty good likeness,” he said with a youthful grin. “Yeah, I think the AI is kind of getting out of hand now, and it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.”
What’s real is that Jakucionis went into Friday night still without an NBA dunk.
“It depends on the opportunities and how I feel that day, and if I get the chance,” he said of the potential breakthrough moment.
The 6-foot-5 guard said he had one dunk during his lone season at Illinois, but had broken the dunk barrier while even younger during his two professional years in Spain from 2022 to 2024.
“Actually,” he said, “I had some more dunks in Barcelona than I did in college.”
With Butler egging him on, and with teammates Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Simone Fontecchio casting doubt about the ability, Jakucionis decided it was showtime.
“I don’t know why they didn’t believe in me,” he said. “All year I was telling them that I can dunk. But, you know, I wouldn’t show because I like to just keep it a secret. But, yeah, no one believed in me here.
“I think all the haters here, Jaime didn’t believe in me, Simo, no one believed in me. So I kind of just had to prove them wrong,”
At the 2025 NBA draft combine in Chicago, Jakucionis ranked No. 36 in terms of standing vertical leap, at 28.5 inches (as a means of comparison, Spurs forward Drake Powell, runner-up to Johnson at the All-Star dunk contest, was at 37.5 inches). In terms of maximum vertical leap, Jackucionis ranked 30th at 35 inches (with Powell topping those rankings at 43 inches).
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Asked if he knew his current verticals, Jakucionis retreated to his altered reality.
“It’s not that much,” he said. “I told you it’s AI, so I don’t know what to tell.”
Jaquez cleared
Having surfaced on the injury report with an ankle sprain, Jaquez was cleared at Friday’s shootaround.
Jaquez, in his second game back after missing two due to hip tightness, said he twisted the ankle during Wednesday night’s victory over the Cavaliers when he tried to jump into a passing lane and landed on the foot of Cavaliers guard James Harden.
“It was definitely painful,” he said. “It never is pleasant rolling an ankle. Initially the pain is pretty severe, but after a little bit it kind of winds down.”
He said he could have returned to Wednesday night’s game if needed after checking out for good with 6:42 to play.
“But we were already in such a good groove,” Jaquez said, “and the guys that were out there were playing so great.”
Continue reading...
