Mac McClung flips the ball during the AT&T Slam Dunk during NBA All-Star Week 2023 on Saturday.
Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images
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Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images
Mac McClung flips the ball during the AT&T Slam Dunk during NBA All-Star Week 2023 on Saturday.
Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images
Welcome to the new NPR series, where we highlight the people and things that are making headlines – and the stories behind them.
At a certain point on a Saturday night, you can’t help but feel sorry for Trey Murphy III.
The diminutive New Orleans forward had some incredibly impressive moves up his sleeve for the NBA All-Star on Saturday – but Mac McClung was a move too hard to follow.
The fresh-faced point guard of the 76ers (who was just called up from the G League this week) is the undisputed star of the night. In each round of the Salt Lake City pitching competition, McClung brilliantly shot his 6’2″ shot into the net.
Now there are rumors that he has rescued competition that is starting to fall out of favor.
Who is he? A crowd of basketball celebrities quickly became his hype team on the sidelines, filming him on sponsored phones and nearly dropping their kids a few times. As for his established fan base, the dunk contest is just telling the world what they’ve known for years.
- McClung is a YouTube craze, going back to high school highlights. His “senior year mixtape” has more than three million views.
- In tribute to his hometown of Gate City, Virginia (and the fans who have loved him ever since), he donned his high school jersey in the final.
- In college, he played for Georgetown for two years before moving to Texas Tech.
- He became useless in 2021 and entered the Lakers summer league, signing with the team afterwards.
- He moved to the Chicago Bulls on a short-term deal the following year, eventually ending up in the NBA G League with Bulls affiliate Windy City. When invited to this year’s dunk competition, he joined the Delaware Blue Coats for the 2022-23 season, making him the first G League player to participate.
YouTube
What is the big problem? This was a much-needed boost for McClung, who had only played two NBA games in two years – one for the Bulls and one for the Lakers – and scored three baskets in total.
- It’s also a pivotal moment for the competition itself, which many fans consider outdated as the NBA’s biggest stars no longer participate.
- Benchwarmer status aside, McClung’s real feats he achieved on Saturday were big deals.
- He stacks two friends up high, passes them both to get the ball, hits the back board and THEN sinks an inverted ball. Then a neat jump over the head of a grown man with a full clutch. And ended up with a near-impossible 540-degree acrobatic, which is a spin and a half in the air.
- No one could convince me that this man didn’t learn ballet. If it weren’t for Monday, I’d try puns.
- OK, I’ll do it: McClung really raised the bar.
- 19 out of 20 judges’ scores is a perfect 50.
Whoever came up with Shaq Cam is referred to as the venerable “main character”
YouTube
What are people saying?
- “The man is a viral HOH high school dunk phenomenon, still working hard to join the League, but let me quickly win that dunk competition trophy and bring it back to life!! ! Unreal #macmclung.” — Steph curry
- “He caught the attention of a basketball community that was beginning to lose faith that the old pitching competitions – like the Vince Carter years and Zach Lavine’s performances – would make a comeback. It has come. to the extent that even NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked about the declining quality of diving competition, with people wondering if the NBA would start asking top stars to participate.” —Kevin Reynolds, The Salt Lake Tribune
- “He definitely saved the dunk competition.” – Shaquille O’Neal
McClung earned some great reactions next door.
Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
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Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
So what now? One night took the 24-year-old from a YouTube star to a household name. The Internet is still recovering from the spectacle and the question “Who is Mac McClure?” Record-ups will continue for at least a few days.
- Winning a dunk competition has long been seen as a showcase for lesser known and growing talent. Everyone from Kobe Bryant to Vince Carter, Blake Griffin, Josh Smith and Andrew Iguodala have received awards.
- Spud Webb, a former pitching champion and now the basketball executive chairman of the NBA G League team, Texas Legends, told NPR that the hype is really exciting for G League players in general and for him. see a future for McClung. “I’m glad he won. I work in the G League, it affects us a lot,” Webb told NPR. “But I’m telling you, man, he can play. His energy level – I think there’s room for him.”
- Time will tell if this has opened the door for more realistic playtime. But for now, an invitation to the 2024 dunk contest seems certain.
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