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When touched by grace, basketball disguises itself as art.

Ignoring performance, athletes elevate their discipline to such a degree of excellence that one might forget the amount of work it takes to get to that level. Yet, behind any demonstration lies gallons of sweat, an uncountable amount of repetitions and unwavering willpower. This hard work has a name – training – which has proven to be the key to achieving Allen Iverson’s perfect crossover and the grace of Team Fly Paris.

The collective of Parisian dunkers composed of Chris, Emeric and Yohan wanted to take us to the backstage of their art. Emphasizing on the blood and sweat part of their craft, Team Fly Paris is making a point on the 360 aspects of Dunking. The art of dunk requires both physical capabilities (strong legs, cladding, explosiveness, balance, incredible hand speed) and a strong mindset.

The 3 members claim that their willpower was built up through an emotional roller coaster. Each frustration born from failure is swept away by the joy of achieving a new move. No one was more inspirational than Allen Iverson (AI). He proved game after game, crossover after crossover that passion and self-confidence could break the highest barriers.

Technically, we can recognize the footwork they learnt from him - so effective to take off - but, above all it was his state of mind that marked our 3 heroes. They confessed that seeing AI defying the big men in the paint was what hyped them up. AI gave them the license to dream and is the living proof that you should never settle for less. On the contrary, it is only a matter of training to finally, one day, jump up in the air and stay there.

This is why Team Fly Paris continues to move the needle, to one day be recognized as full-fledged athletes, and not just showmen. In the meantime, they train on the rough asphalt, representing the harshness of Parisian playgrounds across Europe.

Follow Team Fly @team_fly_paris and its members Emeric @emeric.slk, Yohan @yohanlemay & Chris @chrissdna.