Filip Pawelka is a 5’11” two-foot dunker from Myslowice in southern Poland. His measured vertical is 115 centimetres, around 45 inches, and he weighs 83 kilos, which is heavy for a dunker at that height and shows in how he finishes.
He won the dunk contest at Alkatraz in Walbrzych in June 2023, the twentieth edition of a street basketball tournament that has run in Lower Silesia since around 2003. He had competed there the year before without winning, and filmed his own view of that first attempt, which is a rarer thing than it sounds: most dunkers only post the years they win.
He has since moved onto the FIBA 3x3 circuit, competing in the dunk contest at a World Tour stop in Debrecen, and he has played 3x3 at the City Tour Silesia events. He plays for Ballin Monkeys.
Away from dunking he is a qualified physiotherapist and personal trainer working in Katowice, which is an unusual background in this sport and a useful one. Most dunkers pick up their understanding of loading and landing mechanics by trial and injury.
He posts as the.powerka on Instagram and runs a YouTube channel under FP Pawelka, where the dunk content sits alongside game footage.