Mac McClung continued his annual tradition of stealing the NBA spotlight for a day, as the G League standout won his third consecutive NBA Slam Dunk Title during the All-Star Weekend in San Francisco on Saturday, February 15 (Sunday, February 16, Manila time).
McClung has played in just five minutes of one NBA game this season for the Orlando Magic – and five games over the past five seasons – but his leaping ability remains at an elite level. Using his showmanship, McClung delivered four consecutive perfect scores to get the best of the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle in the final round.
Earlier in the evening, the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro won the Three-Point Contest, while the Cleveland Cavaliers’ duo of Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell won the Skills Challenge.
In the dunk competition, McClung jumped over a person in all four of his successful attempts, including one that also included a car in the first round and a double dunk for his third perfect score when he jumped over somebody spinning on a hoverboard.
The title-clinching final dunk came over the 6-foot-11 Mobley, who was standing on a small platform.
“Truly, stuff like this doesn’t happen without standing on the shoulders of a lot of people,” McClung said on the TNT broadcast. “I had a lot of help. People were opening gyms to fit a car in. People were allowing me to use their car. I’m just really grateful right now.”
After three titles in three years, McClung hinted at the end of his one-hit wonder days.
“This might be it for me, but we’ll see,” he said. “If they want me back then I’ll think about it.”
Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls and Andre Jackson Jr. of the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the dunk contest. – Rappler.com