Mac McClung soars to slam dunk title at All-Star Saturday

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mac McClung might havesingle-handedly restored the shine on a dunk contest that has beenwidely panned in recent years.

McClung, the 6-foot-2 Philadelphia guard on a two-way contract,defeated New Orleans’ Trey Murphy III in the finals of the dunkcontest, culminating an NBA All-Star Saturday that may have finallyanswered the question as to whether what used to be the league’ssignature event can be glitzy again.

McClung had the answer: Absolutely.

“I’m truly blessed and grateful for the NBA giving me thisopportunity,” McClung said.

MAC MCCLUNG 😳#ATTSlamDunkpic.twitter.com/0wuoeaeqc6

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 19, 2023

A 540-degree dunk — not a 360, but a 540, him doingone-and-a-half rotations in the air, a move more reserved forfigure skaters and skateboarders than basketball players — was histhird perfect score of the night out of four dunks. By the time thejudges’ scores came up it was already decided. Everyone in thebuilding knew he’d already won.

“It’s over,” McClung said.

"IT IS OVER LADIES AND GENTLEMAN" 🗣#ATTSlamDunkpic.twitter.com/WP098H7fav

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 19, 2023

It was. And he immediately committed to defending his title atIndianapolis at All-Star Saturday next year.

“If you guys will have me, I’ll be back,” McClung said.

“WELCOME TO THE NBA” 🗣Mac McClung showing out at #ATTSlamDunk ‼️ pic.twitter.com/fWLEhtes2a

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 19, 2023

The final score, not that it mattered, was McClung 100.0, Murphy98.0.

His is an unbelievable story: McClung has played mostly in the GLeague, where he ranks 36th in scoring this season at 19 points pergame. He was undrafted in 2021 after spending three college seasonsat Georgetown and Texas Tech. He was signed by Golden State lastyear but never played in a regular-season game for the Warriors,and spent a little time on USA Basketball’s World Cup qualifyingteam last year as well.

“Ever since the beginning, I was the underdog,” said McClung,who put on a Gate City jersey — his high school and hometown inVirginia, population 1,600 — for the final dunk. “Proving othersright instead of others wrong brings a little moresatisfaction.”

A 50 for Mac McClung 😮‍💨#ATTSlamDunkpic.twitter.com/ZBI93JcSUF

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 19, 2023

Philadelphia would become his third NBA team, and he hasn’t evenplayed for the 76ers yet. He played in one game last season for theChicago Bulls, one other game for the Los Angeles Lakers.

He has three NBA baskets.

He had four dunks on Saturday night. A guy with more dunks thanactual NBA field goals might have saved the dunk contest.

“Give this man his flowers, man,” TNT commentator Kenny Smithsaid.

McClung set the tone for the night with a dunk that had NBAsuperstars in disbelief — he leaped over two people, took the ballout of the hands of one of them, tapped it on the backboard andthen threw down a reverse slam.

And that was just for starters.

Riding the momentum of that perfect dunk, he wound up hoistingthe trophy that was newly renamed for dunking legend — and former76ers star — Julius “Dr. J” Erving.

“I’m super happy,” McClung said.

McClung was nearly perfect on his second dunk as well; fourjudges gave him a perfect 50, Lisa Leslie gave him a 49 as the onlydissenter, but it didn’t matter — he was already assured a spot inthe final round against Murphy.

New York’s Jericho Sims gave himself a 50 on his second dunk,where he attached an envelope to the net, pulled it down after thedunk and displayed “50” to the world. No judge agreed, and histwo-dunk score of 95.4 wasn’t good enough to make the finalround.

Also eliminated after Round 1: Houston’s Kenyon Martin Jr., witha score of 93.2.