Shaquille O’Neal has seen enough and has decided to make his own basketball league. The NBA icon and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer has announced “DUNKMAN”, the world’s first professional dunking league. Shaq has launched a new professional dunk league in his latest ventureGettyIn partnership with TNT Sports and Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceuticals, 24 of the best dunkers will compete against each other across four live events in the league’s inaugural season which will get underway in the summer of 2026. The best part – the winner will receive a grand prize of $500,000. With the NBA All-Star weekend format, which includes an annual dunk contest, having fallen off considerably in recent years, 7-foot-1 O’Neal has sought to revive that aspect of basketball with the introduction of this new league. “It’s been s*** for the last 12 years. It hurts my heart,” O’Neal told Forbes. “When I was growing up, the All-Star Game was cool … but that dunk contest and three-point shootout, that was the highlight.“We decided to make a league and treat those guys as professionals.”O’Neal, who once shattered two backboards during his stellar 19-year pro career and recorded 3,814 total career dunks, is set to serve as DUNKMAN’s first league commissioner.The four-time NBA champion’s list of day-to-day responsibilities are thought to include the creation of the matchups, and assist in the development of the point system. Unlike in the All-Star dunk contest, where dunkers were given a score out of 10 from five judges for a maximum total score of 50, DUNKMAN will see judges pay particular attention to hangtime and vertical leap to aid their scoring. TNT Sports’ efforts to remain in the basketball spaceFor TNT Sports, the introduction of DUNKMAN is part of an effort to fill up program scheduling after losing the rights to the NBA last season. With the rights of professional sports like NBA and the NFL being so lucrative to acquire, some media companies are pivoting to launching – and broadcasting their own entities.Shaq spoke of how he has become fed up of the NBA All-Star weekend’s dunk contestGettyWith the launch of DUNKMAN, Shaq wants to bring the excitement back to dunkingGettyFor example, Warner Bros. Discovery also held the exclusive rights to the hugely successful three-on-three women’s basketball league Unrivaled, while Fox Corp is the major owner of the UEL spring football league. “We’ve kind of come to the conclusion that these guys are professional athletes that need to be organized” Craig Barry, executive vice president and chief content officer of Warner’s TNT Sports said, via Variety.“We believe there’s an opportunity to bring a league to the fans,” who have already shown interest in seeing great dunks playing on digital and social media.”“Shaq has been outspoken about the state of the dunk contest and how it’s lost relevance in recent years,” WME head of sports content Lee White said of his client. “The star power isn’t there, but more importantly, the innovation and creativity has fallen off. But rather than just complaining about a problem and waiting for someone else to fix it, Shaq and the team have built something entirely new with ‘DUNKMAN.’ “We feel this is truly a groundbreaking competition that brings together the best viral dunk artists from around the world and appeals to an audience that is underserved.”Stay up to date with the latest from the NBA across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.