The reports on the NBA Slam Dunk competition that is dead can be exaggerated-and that’s all thanks to Mac McClung.
On Saturday night, McClung became the first player to ever three-turv Dunk competition. His high-flying Heroics included an epic thump over a Kia, a tribute to Aaron Gordon’s famous Hoverboard dunk and an impressive leap over Cleveland Cavalier’s seven feet Evan Mobley.
McClung is more than an “exciting white”, despite how often the meme was used on Saturday night. He may be what saves the Dunk competition.
For McClung’s first two wins, he never got his flowers. Instead, the story about his dominance was that the Dunk competition had become so bad that a G League player had won twice in a row.
On Saturday, it felt like McClung woke up something.
No other player in the 2025 Dunk competition field could hold a torch to what the G League star threw down. San Antonio Spurs Rookie Stephon Castle hammered home some exciting cans that would have broken Bleacher report if they were done in a game, but McClung’s use of props is what gives the dunk competition life.
The knock on Saturday night’s final for almost the last decade is that actual NBA stars do not participate in the event. Lebron James has never participated, and now the NBA community has asked young, high-flying superstars like yes Morant, Anthony Edwards and Zion Williamson to compete.
McClung’s performance on Saturday night may have awakened them.
Memphis Grizzlie’s Superstar Yes Morant had social media that was buzzing when he explained that McClung’s Heroics could make him decide to participate in next year’s competition.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was commissioned to cheer on his teammate Andre Jackson Jr.’s terrible cans, responded to Morant and got the NBA buzzing.
“If you do. I do it with you, “he said in an answer.
After his three peat, McClung threatened to retire from the Dunk competition in an interview with Allie Laforce. The Dunk competition has evolved into the point where a G League player, whose Dunk competition revenue has almost doubled his gaming salary, is willing to leave the event.
But in his media offering late Saturday evening, McClung was informed that Morant and Antetokounmpo was thinking about the opportunity to compete next year, and he seemed much more open to defend his three-torv crown.
Who knows if Morant and Antetokounmpo will keep the word and participate next year? Who knows if McClung will decide that he is too good for the competition, especially after emptying the clip by jumping over a car?
But if everything goes according to plan, and the Dunk competition is revived, we should all thank McClung, the unmatched player from the G League who was consistently rolled out for our entertainment over the past three seasons just to disappear back in his role with Osceola Magic.
