The NBA Dunk Contest is back, and NBA fans have a G-League star to thank for it. Mac McClung has breathed life back into the festivities.
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It wasn’t so long back that the Slam Dunk Contest was the signature event of the All-Star weekend. Casuals and fanatics alike would wait for the event of the high-fliers every year.
The likes of Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Nate Robinson, Vince Carter, Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon have all put their stamp on this event over the years, among other spectacular performers. However, things had gotten a bit stale over the past few years.
After Gordon and LaVine’s titanic 2016 battle, the contestants couldn’t bring back the same hype. Although we saw the likes of Derrick Jones Jr, Gordon and Donovan Mitchell pull off some nice dunks, it wasn’t the same as before.
2 extreme duds in back-to-back years (2021 and 2022) meant that many people had declared the contest dead. There were calls for the 3-point challenge to replace the Dunk Contest as the marquee event of All-Star Saturday. That has changed this year.
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Mac McClung earns Vince Carter comparisons with his final dunk of the Dunk Contest
Quite a few fans had tipped Mac McClung to take the contest by storm in the days leading up to the event. After all, many of us had high hopes for the 24-year-old due to his sick high school mixtape. The 6’2″ guard had shown insane hops during his 3 years of college as well.
McClung did not disappoint on the night. In fact, one might go so far as to say that McClung’s performance has even brought back viewers’ interest in the contest singlehandedly. His first dunk of the night serves as proof of this.
Wowed, are you? Well, you might even say that McClung outdid himself with his Vince Carter declaration in his final dunk. After all, he pulled off perhaps the first 720 dunk in contest history from the right baseline!
Much like Vince Carter did in the 2000 Dunk Contest, McClung was the winner from start to finish in tonight’s event. Whether his performance earns him more regular NBA minutes remains to be seen. But his is a name everyone will remember after tonight.
