Remember When... Tom Abercrombie Dunked on Jaren Jackson Jr

The growth of the NBL in recent seasons has been near unparalleled, and a large part of that goes to the added exposure the league is presented with its now regular NBLxNBA pre-season games.

Adelaide’s victory over Phoenix ahead of NBL23 made the 36ers the talk of the basketball world for a few short days. Melbourne’s one-point loss to OKC in 2017 also elevated the respect given to our domestic competition.

In terms of single moments in one of these games though, it’s hard to look past Tom Abercrombie’s dunk on the newly minted NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr, in 2019.

Since the coming together of the sides almost four years ago, Jackson Jr has evolved to become one of the biggest names in the NBA. Alongside his Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy, he also has an NBA All-Star appearance and All-Defensive First Team selection to his name.

In 2019 he was heading into his sophomore season, and Breakers veteran Abercrombie – who was 32-years-old at the time – showcased an aerial ability few realised he had.

“I’ll remember that one for a while,” Abercrombie said in the immediate aftermath of the game in question. “That was the best dunk I’ve ever had.

“I haven’t thrown down too many one-handers, so I don’t know where it came from. Instincts just took over and it was a goodie.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If JJJ didn&#39;t know who <a href="https://twitter.com/tomabo10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tomabo10</a> was before today, he sure does now ?<br><br>Second spot in the <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a> Top 10. Here&#39;s Tom Abercrombie with ALL the angles on Jaren Jackson Jr.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLxNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLxNBA</a> <a href="https://t.co/MfAFBvntGr">pic.twitter.com/MfAFBvntGr</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1181829708591198209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Then teammate Corey Webster – who now plays for Perth – was in the perfect position to see the Breakers legend drop one on the NBA floor.

“I think that’s the first one-handed dunk I’ve seen him do,” he said. “I told him (Abercrombie) during the game ‘man, you’re evolving now at 32 – playing the four and dunking on people with one hand’.

“I’ve seen plenty of two-handers and plenty of lobs thrown to him, but a one-handed dunk was pretty special to see.”

That 2019 pre-season clash was one of New Zealand’s first under coach Dan Shamir, so much so that he was still learning the ins and outs of his side.

While he did say after the game he was impressed with Abercrombie’s ability to set the tone for the side, his reaction to the dunk was muted at best.

“Next time when we have a dunk I expect us to get back on defence and not be caught celebrating,” he said.

That dunk kicked off a career season for Abercrombie – who became just the second player in NBL history to join the NBL’s 50-40-90 club (shooting, three points, free throw percentages), following Daniel Kickert.

Jackson Jr, alongside Ja Morant – who also played that day – has helped lead the Grizzlies to the second seed in the Western Conference in the 2022-23 season, while Abercrombie has helped lead the Breakers back to the top end of the NBL after two Covid-19 impacted seasons.