Porter “What’s Gravity?” Maberry may be carrying the most accurate monicker in the world of sports.
At 5-foot-5, Maberry quite literally defies gravity to pull off stunning slam dunks to captivate a crowd.
On Sunday, Maberry was the FIBA 3×3 World Tour representative for the dunk contest final, and starred in a surprise that got the Filipino crowd inside Robinsons Place Manila going.
For his second dunk, Maberry took off his warm-up shirt and wore a Jimmy Alapag Gilas Pilipinas jersey, before going baseline to jump over KG Canaleta and finish with a reverse slam.
The dunker extraordinaire later on shared he made the move to pay tribute to the Philippine basketball legend, as he knew Alapag will be coming.
“I definitely know who he is. I watch basketball all the time. I connect with the little guys. I was gonna wear Nate (Robinson)’s jersey but Jimmy is from here so I have to pay tribute to him,” Maberry shared on how he came up with the idea.
“It was a great idea. The fans want something crazy, and it was a success. They told me he was going to be here so I told myself I have to do it.”
Maberry says he has been practicing dunking since April just for the event. He and Alapag — who judged the competition — met afterwards, exchanging gratitude.
“He is as athletic as they come come. I’ve seen him in the internet before so meeting him personally is cool,” Alapag shared.
“We knew he was going to put on an amazing show in Manila, but for him to represent using my Gilas jersey is special.”
Maberry lost to Rey Guevarra by a hairline, 79-80 in the three-round final as he had difficulty pulling off his first attempt but is grateful to finally meet Alapag.
Like the “Mighty Mouse”, Maberry hopes to be an inspiration to little men and underdogs in life to succeed.
“I try to be an inspiration out there even outside of basketball,” he added.
