McClung Puts On A Show To Win The Dunk Contest

By DJ Harding 

The last event on All-Star Saturday night was the Slam Dunk contest. What some would say has been a bit lackluster over the few years didn’t have that feel this go round due to Mac McClung. 

The first and only G-League player to suit up in a dunk contest. McClung, who plays for the Delaware Blue Hens and only has 4 games of NBA experience. 

The other three competitors Keyon Martin Jr. from the Houston Rockets, Trey Murphy III from the New Orleans Pelicans, and Jericho Sims from the New York Knicks. 

The judges for the event were Dominique Wilkins and Harold Miner, who are both two-time Slam Dunk Champions along with Lisa Leslie, Karl Malone, and Jamal Crawford Julius Erving presented the slam dunk trophy. Erving, the first slam dunk winner, had the award named after him.

Martin and Sims would be the first out of the competition. Martin would have two dunks on the evening with a reverse and a double clutch slam, but it wouldn’t be enough. Sims had the same fate with an off the backboard alley that ended with a two hand slam with both elbows in the rim, which was followed by a one hand elbow in the rim dunk. Sims had a lot of elbows flying, but he and Martin had their night ended early.

Murphy would use teammate Jose Alvarado for a creative alley-oop and a tomahawk into a windmill slam to get him into the final round but second place would be the furthest he would get despite a final round with a under the leg alley into a windmill and a 360 windmill dunk.

Unfortunately, tonight was Mac McClung’s night as he would put on a show with three 50-point dunks out of four total dunks on the night. Mac would begin with jumping over two people, one on top of the other who was crouching a bit, while in the air, McClung would tap the backboard with the ball and then reverse jam it. Dunk number two was a 360 windmill, which was the only non 50 of his night. In the final round, McClung would jump over another person before double clutching in mid-air for another 50, but the dunk of the night was McClung’s final dunk.

McClung would go from unknown to stardom and took the internet by storm for his performance, but if not for nothing else McClung’s 540 reverse Slam would send the crowd into a frenzy. 

The contest wasn’t close as the world tuned into the Mac McClung show, and it was a great show indeed.