No stars, no problem: Mac McClung steals the show at the Dunk Contest

When the contestants for the Dunk Contest were announced, it didn’t exactly garner a lot of positive buzz from NBA fans.

With respect to those who stepped up and competed, there weren’t a lot of household names in the field. NBA stars have declined to participate in recent years.

It was a far cry from past dunk contests, which featured players like Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dominique Wilkins.

The Dunk Contest has been on a slide since 2016’s Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon duel, which was one of the best contests of all time.

It hit a low point last year, which featured nearly as many misses as makes.

On Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Mac McClung — who has appeared in two total NBA games and just signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers four days ago — provided perhaps the best Dunk Contest performance in years.

McClung’s four spectacular dunks won the 2023 Dunk Contest and brought a Vivint Arena crowd that was sleepy for much of the Saturday Night show to life and dazzled viewers at home.

Who needs NBA stars when you get a performance like this?

“Yeah, just a lot of gratitude. It’s really a blur, to be honest with you,” McClung said after winning.

Hardcore basketball fans had heard of McClung before. His high school mixtapes, featuring his athletic dunks, were popular online.

He averaged 14.7 points over his three college seasons — two with Georgetown and one with Texas Tech, before declaring for the 2021 NBA Draft.

After going undrafted, McClung hung around in the G League (the NBA’s minor league), averaging 19.1 points, 4.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds this year for the Delaware Blue Coats, the minor league team of the Philadelphia 76ers.

McClung has appeared in just two NBA games — one for the Chicago Bulls in 2021 and one for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022 — but looked like an NBA vet in the Dunk Contest.

With a full arena, cameras everywhere and a lot of people watching online, he made every one of his dunks on the first try.

McClung provided a jolt to the first round, earning the first 50 of the night when he jumped over two people — one person crouched down with another on his shoulders, tapped the ball on the backboard, and finished with a reverse jam.

“I think just getting that first dunk down is a lot of the pressure off. I heard the crowd kind of for me. That just kind of gave me a lot of confidence,” McClung said.

For his second dunk, McClung did a reverse windmill dunk to punch his ticket to the finals.

McClung raised the level even further in the finals.

Jumping over another person, with a double-clutch reverse finish, the 6-foot-2 McClung soared for another perfect 50 finish.

For his last trick, McClung threw on his high school jersey and nailed a 540 reverse slam, motioning “it’s over” to the judges.

After being awarded another 50, McClung was crowned the Slam Dunk Champion.

Give credit to New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, who advanced to the final and likely would have been the champion in the past three dunk contests. But it was McClung’s night in Salt Lake City.

Murphy III got the crowd involved, asking whether they wanted a tomahawk or a windmill, before combining the two, cocking the ball behind his head and doing a windmill for a reverse jam.

He also had an impressive off-the-glass windmill finish with one hand.

McClung practiced his jams ahead of the Dunk Contest with his friends Chuck Millan — who was one of the people he jumped over — and Chase Skinkis. McClung said that they watched YouTube videos of past Dunk Contests to try and come up with unique dunks, saying that he did two never-before-seen dunks.

While winning the Dunk Contest is a career highlight, McClung is trying to parlay it into sticking on an NBA roster, saying that he’s working on “everything” in his game.

“I know it’s hard to judge G League, but if you look at my stats, I’m an overall player. I’m a point guard. I’m scrappy on defense,” McClung said. “My shot, I feel like has been really good this year. I just work on everything I can. Film is really big to me. Just the study of everything, kind of growing that.

McClung says he will be back in next year’s Dunk Contest. Based on what we saw in Salt Lake City, he’ll be the favorite — even if the stars show up.