This season’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest saw many firsts based only on one exception and that is the amazingly unbelievable skills shown by Mac McClung. For the first time, the NBA invited a G-league player (more on this later on) to the Slam Dunk Contest. This is also the first time that a G-league player Slam Dunk Champion albeit in an excellent manner.
McClung has just recently signed on to a two-way deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. For this season he played for the Delaware Blue Coats. No one saw it coming that he would be a fierce contender for the Slam Dunk title since he was going to compete with three NBA players that the league chose. The end of the contest saw him taking them down and earning the trophy with four of the best dunks the contest has seen in years.
To add a few backgrounder details just to make sure everyone’s on the same page, the NBA G League, formerly the NBA Development League or NBA D-League, is the NBA’s official minor league, preparing players, coaches, officials, trainers, and front office staff for the NBA while acting as the league’s research and development laboratory.
Beginning with the 2017-18 season, the NBA D-League became the NBA G League as part of a multiyear expanded partnership between the NBA and Gatorade.
On that note, let’s take a look at how McClung took everyone’s breath away.
The first shot was a flashy move that rendered a bit of showmanship. McClung leaped over two people — one sitting on another one’s shoulders — grabbed the ball from the higher of the two and tapped the ball off the backboard before throwing it down.
The second was leaning more on the traditional slam dunk with McClung doing a 360 with a two-handed pump and slam.
For the third dunk, he mixed things up and made it seem more impossible to execute. He grabbed the ball out of the hands of a helper while double-pumping in the air.
The last and final dunk he changed into his high school jersey and broke the audience’s capacity for amazement with a 540-degree spin and slam.
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The score he garnered was a 50 on three of his four shots — just the second shot coming to a few points short of a perfect score. He defeated New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III in the final round, with Jericho Sims and Kenyon Martin Jr. getting knocked out in the first round. McClung has only played in two NBA games thus far in his career, but he is officially the 2023 NBA Slam Dunk champion.
We’ll hopefully be seeing more from McClung in the coming days. This is definitely god-level. This really shows that talent, superlatively real talent, is a gift. Not everyone has it and it is simply meant to be. He definitely has what it takes when it comes to perfecting and even further improving the perfection of his slam dunk shots. Would you like us to feature amazing shots or acts in sports? Just let us know in the comment section below and we’ll get this on our pages for you to enjoy.
