Milwaukee man takes third place in national slam dunk contest, says his ability to fly high has changed his life



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee Bucks are flying high after beating the Bulls in Chicago Monday night, April 27th to force Game 6 in the NBA playoffs to be played Thursday in Milwaukee. So is Aaron Evans, whose ability to soar through the air has lifted him to new heights. In the process, it has changed his life.

Aaron Evans



"The Sky Slam Madness Contest is pretty much about dunking. You gotta give it your all -- submit a video, and have people vote for you. And what it is is you win $10,000 if you actually are the big winner," Evans said.

Evans came close to winning -- finishing third in the national Sky Slam Madness balloting from an original cast of thousands from around the country. A gifted gymnast and an acrobat on the trampoline, Evans has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Milwaukee.

"I guess you can call them backyard trampolines. They were actually tossed out mattresses, and we did what we had to do to stay active in a positive way. All my life I just knew grass and concrete. Found out one day that they made this object here which they called a trampoline and fell in love with it on sight," Evans said.

Aaron Evans



And what joy the trampoline has given 26-year-old Evans.

"I don't know not one person that don't wish they could fly. Jumping up on that trampoline, you get that much closer to that dream, man. I love it. I love jumping as high as I can -- seeing how long I can stay up there. I go for a goal every day -- try to get higher and higher," Evans said.

Evans gets to do that often at Sky Zone in Waukesha.

"It is so cool to have a place like this. I can go all over this place and just go wild! I wish I had this in my backyard. I know when I get here, people are just stuck the whole entire time, wondering 'what is he going to do next?' 'Oh my gosh Mama, look at him!'" Evans said.

Evans is a member of the Rimbrockers -- a popular group that performs at halftime during Bucks games. The moments before going out there give him a real high.

"Your adrenaline is going and, you know, the crowd's out there. They're about to see the most amazing thing they'll ever see. It's like, you're so amped. Having people out there to cheer you on, having nice, sick, silly dunks in -- just getting big air and people just reacting to it in a way that's just like none other," Evans said.



Evans is a Guinness Book of World Records holder for jumping over cars -- cars that are moving!

Aaron Evans



"These cars are coming at me at 30 mph and there's three of them, so I have the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest time to flip over three cars. The record right now is 23 seconds. I broke the first record which was a minute and 11 seconds. I brought it down to 29 seconds, and then I broke that record and brought it down," Evans said.

Evans' talent has taken him to California and even China. He has dreams of flying even further.

"I'm going to eventually get into some stunting, probably get into some movies, do some stunt doubles or actually be a main character, you never know," Evans said.

Regardless of what the future holds, Evans has used his gifts to develop an air of confidence.

"Growing up, people told me that I wasn't going to be anything -- I wasn't going to go anywhere. That really took a toll on my life, but at the same time, it gave me the motivation to stay in it. To know that if I would have taken a slight step this way, or a slight step that way, how we wouldn't even be talking right now. It's really been a life-changing experience for me," Evans said.