How a parking attendant soared into an undersized dunking champion

Before the bright lights and applause, Lennon “Flight” Albiso was ushering cars in a parking lot in Makati, withstanding the intense heat as vehicles moved in and out of the vicinity. 

In that same vacant lot, there were hardened cement blocks and unused office and construction materials, and Albiso decided to build his own gym — the  blocks meant for pavement became weights for squats and deadlifts, steel pipes turned into makeshift barbells, and the asphalt, albeit slippery, became his jump-off point. 

At 5-foot-5, Albiso does not fit the image most people associate with dunking a basketball. At 28, he also does not come from an elite sports program, a well-funded training facility, or a structured athletic system. He came from blue-collar work, but with a persistence to build something great out of nothing. 

Albiso is a Filipino dunker who has competed in high-level dunk contests in the Philippines. His journey is not just about jumping high, but about making do with limited resources and refusing to let circumstances dictate what is possible. 

His relationship with basketball started early. He tried running, badminton, and football, but basketball stuck, helped by a hoop his grandfather put up so he could play and practice. 

“We had some old tapes of Michael Jordan when I was a kid, so I got to watch some of his highlights and his free throw dunk,” Albiso said in Filipino. “That led me to play basketball back in our province in Negros Oriental. My grandfather even set up a basketball ring for me. That was when my love for basketball truly began.” 

In high school, Albiso became a varsity player, surprising teammates with a vertical leap that allowed him to touch the rim despite his height. For a time, he dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player. That dream faded when he did not receive financial support to pursue college basketball. 

“The most painful I felt with basketball was when my father did not support my dream of going to college after I graduated high school,” Albiso said. “I eventually came to terms with it, but it really broke me at the time because I really loved basketball that much.” 

Without the support to attend college, Albiso worked various jobs, from parking lots to construction sites, while continuing to play and follow basketball whenever he could. Somewhere between directing cars and moving supplies, he realized he could stay connected to the game through dunking. 

“After high school, I would see the FIBA 3×3 dunk contests in between games,” Albiso said. “That was when I started wondering about my potential in dunking.” 

In 2018, he fully committed to training his body to dunk and exploring his athletic potential. 

With limited access to gyms, especially during the pandemic, Albiso built his own training environment. He used cement blocks, tires, wood, and steel pipes for strength work. At the parking lot where he worked, he set up a basketball ring and practiced the dunks he envisioned. 

“The pandemic in 2019 forced me to find another way to train,” Albiso said. “I made use of the cement blocks that were hardening and not being used at the parking area. I used those blocks as weights for squats and deadlifts.” 

Progress, even in small increments, was enough to keep him going. “Whenever I saw even small bits of improvement, I kept going. I just prayed to God that He would protect me. At the end of the day, I knew I had nothing to lose, and I enjoyed it too much for me to stop,” he said. 

He began documenting his workouts and dunk attempts on social media in 2019. During this time, he used his remaining savings just to travel to nearby towns for pickup games and available courts to film content. 

“There was even a time when I only had enough money for commuting,” Albiso said. “With the difficulty of travel during the pandemic, sometimes I had to shell out more than the regular fare.” 

Anxiety and fatigue also crept in amid the difficult circumstances he faced daily. 

“The other day, I got scared thinking that I may have contracted COVID because I had a hard time catching my breath and felt like I was about to die,” he said in one of his videos. “But after getting enough rest, it turned out it was just fatigue from training under the sun non-stop for the past couple of days.” 

By 2021, his consistency earned him features on basketball pages like Hype Basketball and HoopX. That same year, he competed in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 Invitational Dunk Contest. 

For someone used to the everyday noise of a parking lot, the stage felt surreal. “The moment I stepped on the court that night, I was overwhelmed. Even the women spectators were taller than me. It felt like I was in Encantadia (a fantasy),” Albiso said. 

But when he completed his dunk, he knew he was where he was meant to be. “Immediately after that dunk contest, I felt like I belonged. I can’t believe I pulled off a good dunk on such a big stage.” 

At one point during his journey, he estimated his vertical leap reached as high as 45 to 47 inches, which was the height he needed to execute the creative dunks he envisioned on 10-foot rims. 

Albiso went on to win three dunk contests, including the National Basketball Training Center’s Molten 3×3 Slam Dunk Contest in 2023. That same year, he received a tryout offer from a college competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but ultimately chose to focus on his dunking career and coaching journey instead. 

His rise was interrupted in 2024 when he suffered from sciatica and was forced to stop training for seven months. The injury marked his lowest point physically and emotionally, pushing him to consider quitting altogether. 

“During that time, I really thought of letting go of dunking because at one point, different parts of my body felt numb,” Albiso said. 

What kept him going was the support from friends and followers who noticed his absence and encouraged him to return. 

“I still posted throwback videos, and friends and followers kept asking about me. They were the ones who motivated me to keep going. A part of me also knew that I was still young and had a lot left in the tank,” he said. “I made an effort to rehabilitate my body in a way that wouldn’t require heavy spending, given that I had little back then.” 

The injury forced Albiso to rethink his training. He adopted what he calls “smart training,” balancing deliberate strength work with rest and recovery. He placed greater emphasis on sleep, time management, and listening to his body. 

The adjustment paid off. He returned to consistently dunking on 10-foot rims and competed in contests again in late 2024. Today, Albiso works as a personal trainer and hopes to build the next generation of athletes. 

In February 2026, Albiso won another dunk contest at the community level. It was not the biggest stage of his career, but it was among the most meaningful as he competed against one of his students. 

For Albiso, it was a full-circle moment. The parking attendant who once trained alone with cement blocks was now sharing the court with someone he had mentored himself. 

“Outside of dunking, I am working on maximizing my potential as a coach. I hope to build the next generation of athletes by being the best professional coach I can be,” he said. 

Dunking, for Albiso, is no longer just spectacle. “For me, dunking is an art form,” he said. Along with this, he wants his story to show that progress does not require perfect conditions. 

“I sacrificed time and energy, and spent more money than I wanted just to achieve these results. I don’t regret any of it.” 

Years from now, he hopes people remember not just the dunks, but the fact that he never stopped trying, even when the setup was far from ideal. 

“It wasn’t easy for a guy like me, standing at 5’5” and lacking resources, to get to where I am now,” Albiso said. 

“I want to encourage anyone who hopes to reach their dreams to keep going and keep finding ways to persevere despite the challenges. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either.” – Rappler.com