The Slam Dunk Contest is the grand finale of NBA All Star Saturday Night. It has always been that way. Even when the contest leaves much to be desired, we still hold out hope that the next year will bring all the excitement that Vince Carter helped to make it known for. And in 2023 it was Mac McClung who stole the show. With a series of windmills and double pump slams he took home to crown as the NBA’s greatest dunker, but there’s only one huge problem. Mac McClung doesn’t actually play in the NBA. And the real question is why the best dunker the NBA has to offer, has spent this entire season playing in the G league?

How good is Mac McClung?

Mac McClung’s journey to winning the dunk contest on All Star Saturday night is rather atypical. As a high school player in Virginia he went viral for his high flying dunks both for Gate City high school and on the AAU circuit. Mac has always been an athlete and anyone familiar with social media basketball clips knows this. However, as a college basketball recruit, was only considered to be a 3 star recruit by sites like ESPN recruiting. Although it has been done, it is rare for a 3 star recruit to make it to the NBA. The vast majority of drafted NBA players were 5 star recruits ranked within the top 20 of their recruitment classes through the past decade.

Mac went to Georgetown University in the Big East where he average between 13 and 16 points per game across two seasons with 2 assists and 2 turnovers. He later transferred to Texas Tech where he averaged similar numbers while never shooting 35 percent or higher from the three point line. The truth is that Mac McClung is about what the high school scouts said he would be. A volume scorer with great athleticism, that did not stand out amongst his peers either in setting up his teammates or protecting the basketball. But he is electrifying to watch and in most games where Mac plays, regardless of his overall performance, or whether his team wins, he does something that is awe inspiring in the air.

Mac chose to leave Texas Tech foregoing his final year of college eligibility and went undrafted in the upcoming NBA draft. This is still what high school scouts would have expected, that a 3 star recruit would not become a future NBA draft pick. But Mac played summer league basketball, and later in the G League, suiting up twice in NBA games for the Lakers and the Chicago Bulls. Mac even was awarded the G League Rookie of the Year honors in 2022, and this past season was averaging 19 points and nearly 5 assists in the G League before being invited to compete in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. In many ways Mac McClung has already outperformed his high school recruitment rankings, and for that matter all expectations. Playing in the G League makes Mac a great basketball player, and many of the players originally ranked ahead of him don’t even play professional anywhere. And he may even get a chance in the future to make an impact on an NBA roster. But to put it in perspective Mac’s G league stats are still less impressive than players like Seth Curry or Quinn Cook, who averaged more points, steals, assists, and shot better free throw percentages.

The Best Dunkers aren’t the best players

Mac McClung is exposing the truth about the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Before YouTube became the most popular media site in the world, the NBA Slam Dunk Contest was billed as a collection of the greatest dunkers in basketball. The days of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, two future hall of famers duking out gave way to Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and Stave Francis putting on a show that is the only reason I owned a pair of And 1 Tai Chi sneakers. But now we know that the best dunkers generally speaking don’t play in the NBA. I can’t unsee Jordan Kilganon, Team Flight Brothers, or even the Air up there for the crazy dunks they’ve pulled off. Once you witness a 720 dunk with your own eyes, it’s hard to measure anything else next to it. 

The Bottom Line

The NBA does have great slam dunkers, but it just doesn’t have the best ones. Unless the NBA can convince its best stars to participate in the dunk contest, which is an attraction all to itself. There is little they can do to convince fans otherwise that the dunkers they are presenting are the best the world has to offer, which is much of the NBA’s selling point as “the best basketball league in the world”. This is why Mac McClung had to rescue them for this year’s contest. Because without inviting him along with a 10-day contract for the Philadelphia 76ers “which coincidentally will expire shortly after regular season games resume”, the show wouldn’t have been that entertaining. Mac McClung may not be one of the best NBA ready talents in basketball, but he is a better dunker than just about anyone they could have put out there. Which is why he is the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest champion, even if he isn’t an NBA player. A technicality they hope a 10-day contract will keep us from noticing.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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