NBA G-League star Mac McClung successfully defended his title and won the 2024 Slam Dunk contest on Saturday. The Osceola Magic guard staved off Jaylen Brown to win the title for the second successive year. While the Boston Celtics star was decent competition for the reigning champion, Denver Nuggets star Aaron Gordon decided to highlight the lack of fireworks in this year’s edition of the competition. He even joked that he could’ve easily finished second in the contest.
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“I probably could’ve got second in this years dunk contest lol,” Gordon wrote on X.
The Nuggets star is a two-time runner-up in the Slam Dunk Contest, and the 28-year-old arguably could have won on both occasions. He put on a legendary display in the 2016 edition, pulling off two of the most creative dunks in the contest’s history with the help of a mascot.
While Gordon’s dunks were substantially more innovative than his competitor Zach LaVine‘s slams, the then-Minnesota Timberwolves star hung around and eventually won the contest. Gordon and LaVine’s battle in 2016 is certainly the best head-t0-head duel in Slam Dunk contest history since Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins going at each other in 1988.
Gordon put on another impressive display in the 2020 Slam Dunk contest and was the favorite to beat Derrick Jones Jr. in the final round. However, he was controversially robbed of the title. In the final round, Gordon dunked the ball above 7-foot-5-inch Tacko Fall and seemed to have won the title after Jones’ dunk received 48 points out of 50.
However, three of the five judges – Dwyane Wade, Scottie Pippen, and Chadwick Boseman – scored his incredible dunk nine out of 10, while the other two, Candace Parker and Common scored it 10, taking the total to 47, giving Jones Jr. star the Slam Dunk Contest title. Everyone in attendance was left stunned by the score.
After the event, Common told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that only two of the five judges were supposed to score the dunk a nine to ensure the contest continued. However, a miscommunication led to three scoring it a nine, robbing Gordon of the title. The prevalent theory is that Wade was supposed to score the dunk a ten to ensure the contest continued. However, he purposely gave the dunk a nine to hand the title to Jones, who played for Wade’s former team.
While that theory has never been confirmed, Gordon was through with the heartache of finishing second. He announced that he was retiring from the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest and has stuck by his word. He’s arguably the best Dunk Contest participant ever to not win the award. Hence, his tweet about coming in second in this year’s edition because he wouldn’t be ‘allowed’ to win.
Mac McClung goes back-to-back in the Slam Dunk Contest
Mac McClung sealed the win over Jaylen Brown in the final round with an incredible 50-point dunk over Shaquille O’Neal, who’s a foot taller than the G-League star.
McClung became only the fifth player in Slam Dunk contest history after Michael Jordan, Jason Richardson, Nate Robinson, and Zach LaVine to win it in back-to-back years. While the G-League star flexed his incredible bounce, fans were thoroughly disappointed by Brown’s effort. His dunk over 5-foot-3-inch streamer Kai Cenat, who sat on a chair, did not impress anyone and was booed by those in attendance.
McClung was the deserved winner, but the competition wasn’t too stiff. The Slam Dunk Contest peaked when Gordon and LaVine went head-to-head in 2016. It has lost its sheen over the last few years, and underwhelming performances like Brown’s won’t help its case.
