This post was updated May 18 at 11:08 p.m.

The summer after Blake Arnet’s first season with UCLA men’s basketball, his life took a different turn.

Arnet’s mother had been battling multiple sclerosis since his junior year of high school. In 2009, as the walk-on geared up for his second year with the Bruins, his mom died suddenly because of complications from MS, an autoimmune disease that targets the central nervous system and can have debilitating effects on otherwise healthy adults.

In the years following, he and his family participated in Walk MS, Bike MS and other events to help raise money for MS research.

But Arnet had greater aspirations in trying to find a cure.

“After a few years, I just thought to myself, ‘Hey, with my background in basketball, sports coaching and entrepreneurship, why don’t I create my own event and raise as much money as possible?’” Arnet said.

Now Arnet is five years deep into a mission to do exactly that. He is the founder of Dunk MS, an annual fundraiser that features a professional dunk show to raise money and awareness for MS. On Saturday, the event will make its second straight appearance at the John Wooden Center, where more than 1,000 attendees are expected to turn out for Dunk MS 2023.

Thus far, Dunk MS has raised more than $150,000, with the majority of the proceeds going directly to the UCLA Multiple Sclerosis Program, spearheaded by MS researcher Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl.

With turnout Saturday expected to triple the event’s previous record, Arnet has his sights set on a loftier financial goal than years past: $63,000, in honor of the year in which his mom would’ve turned 63.

And while the money raised by Dunk MS may pale in comparison to the sizable grants received by the UCLA MS Program, Voskuhl said small donations fuel bigger research projects. Voskuhl – who received a $7.3 million grant for her MS research in May – said smaller donations fund high-risk projects that allow researchers to obtain preliminary data in order to substantiate ideas, a key step toward receiving larger grants.

“When you have philanthropy like what Blake is doing, it’s just so important to break the Catch-22 and just get something going,” Voskuhl said.

But perhaps more important than the money raised by Dunk MS is its ability to help cultivate awareness of MS. 

Dunk MS also features a panel of MS researchers who are interviewed by host Nikki Kay to educate the attendees about how MS affects the body.

“The awareness is really important because you have to really be an advocate for your health,” Voskuhl said. “The health system is complicated, and I think you have to know what’s out there, and you have to utilize it.”

To that end, the reach of Dunk MS has skyrocketed in its first five years. In its inaugural year in 2018, Dunk MS took to Palisades Charter High School, where around 250 people showed up as Arnet raised more than $45,000.

It returned to Pacific Palisades in 2019, and even the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t stop Arnet and his team from putting on a virtual dunk show in 2020. October marked the debut of Dunk MS in UCLA’s Wooden Center, but the event is set to reach new heights Saturday with more than 1,000 participants expected to attend.

Arnet said the growth of Dunk MS in recent years has been beyond his imagination.

“You see people get involved, get excited about it. You see them show up to the event. You see them help you out in ways you didn’t think they could help you out,” Arnet said. “It just kind of snowballs and compounds from there over time. It’s been surreal.”

As Dunk MS continues to grow, so too do Arnet’s goals. The next big step for Dunk MS, he said, is finding a new home in Pauley Pavilion.

Arnet has built a team around him to try to reach goals such as these, including UCLA senior associate athletic director Kenny Donaldson, who holds a spot on the advisory board for Dunk MS.

Arnet and Donaldson first met when the former played for UCLA under coach Ben Howland and the latter worked as the academic advisor for the team.

Donaldson said he remembers Arnet wanting to do something philanthropic to honor the memory of his mother well before the idea of Dunk MS even came into play.

“I know his mom is looking down smiling,” Donaldson said.

Donaldson, who has worked with many student-athletes across more than a decade with UCLA, said while he’s proud of those who have gone on to the professional ranks such as Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook, he’s equally proud of those who didn’t go pro and made an impact on their communities.

“When you look at someone like Blake that took his experience here and is still using the platform of sport and basketball to elevate a cause of charity like Dunk MS, it just shows what sports has the capability to do and the communities that it can build and outreach that it has,” Donaldson said.

Saturday’s event will attract a wide range of attendees, with more than 100 children participating in the kids’ basketball clinic prior to the pro dunk show alongside doctors, parents and more.

The dunk show won’t be the only highlight of the afternoon, with free food and entertainment throughout the event. The day will be capped off by a silent auction with merchandise and tickets from multiple major Los Angeles sports teams, and even a signed Jrue Holiday jersey facilitated by Donaldson.

Elijah Bonds, one of the pro dunkers participating Saturday, said being a part of Dunk MS over the past few years has been incredibly impactful.

“It’s a beautiful thing for the community, for kids to see specifically, and it probably will inspire them to try to make a change in whatever aspect they want to go and see the world change,” Bonds said.

For Arnet, the goal of Dunk MS is simply to create a fun and positive environment to raise money and awareness for the disease.

When Dunk MS hits the Wooden Center on Saturday, it will be another big step for an event that’s just scratching the surface of its potential.

“Sky’s the limit for Blake, and we’re with him,” Voskuhl said.