There's making it to your first NBA All-Star Game as a rookie, and then there's Mac McClung's 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest performance. Currently suiting up for the Delaware Blue Coats, McClung is the first G League player to take part in the competition and will likely not be the last, especially after the explosive aerial clinic he put on in Salt Lake City this NBA All-Star Weekend.
After Blazers star Damian Lillard won the 3-Point Contest and the Utah Jazz won the Skills competition over three potential rookie of the year winners, Jericho Sims of the New York Knicks, Kenyon Martin Jr. of the Houston Rockets, and Trey Murphy III of the New Orleans Pelicans, were tasked with grounding the Philadelphia 76ers point guard. Murphy was the only one of the rising stars to hold a candle to the Texas Tech product, but in the end, it was all Mac.
But don't take our word for it. Check out each of his four explosive dunks.
Dunk #1: Backboard Tap, Over Two People
OVER 2 PEOPLE. TAP OFF THE BACKBOARD.
GOODNESS, MAC MCCLUNG.#ATTSlamDunk x #StateFarmSaturday
?: Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/kEzCbDofEd— NBA (@NBA) February 19, 2023
An incredible way to start off the Dunk Contest. We should have expected fireworks from the guy who broke Allen Iverson's high school records in Virginia. Seriously? The Sixers just signed him to a two-way contract and he's got this kind of real-life "BallIsLife" Mixtape talent? And the Chicago Bulls let him go? Unreal.
Seriously. The reaction from the other NBA players says it all. Giannis is actively questioning what's going on in the NBA G League.
Dunk #2: "Welcome to the NBA"
360 AND THE REVERSE ?
Mac McClung went crazy for round 2.#ATTSlamDunk x #StateFarmSaturday
?: Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/zwaM1N6SXC— NBA (@NBA) February 19, 2023
The former South Bay Lakers guard had Kenny Smith and Golden State legend Draymond Green losing their minds on All-Star Saturday night with this dunk.
Dunk #3: The Double Hesitation
Mac McClung going from guy I loved to bet on Overs with Georgetown to Slam Dunk Champ wasn?t something I expected pic.twitter.com/zBsl2UEAA4
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) February 19, 2023
Someone pull up The Athletic's Shams Charania's Twitter feed. Check to see if Mac's been traded back to the Los Angeles Lakers to help LeBron get another ring. My god. This one had Lisa Leslie shaking her head.
Dunk #4: Gate City Saves the Dunk Contest
MAC MCCLUNG SAVES THE DUNK CONTEST. ????
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 19, 2023
What more can we say that the TNT broadcast didn't already show you? For one night, the biggest star wasn't Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, or even Giannis Antetokounmpo. It was Mac McClung, who isn't even on an NBA roster. Last season, the slam dunk contest might as well have been a rebounding competition, but Mac McClung made it the highlight of the evening. Take that three-point contest! The Slam Dunk contest is here to stay.
Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images
