Mac McClung dominates field to win NBA slam dunk contest

SALT LAKE CITY – It’s safe to say that people now know who Mac McClung is.

Once the poster child for the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk competition’s journey to obscurity, with a field of obscure contestants instead of the certified stars of the past, McClung stole the show like he was Michael Jordan or Dominique Wilkins.

With just two games of NBA experience during his stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls, McClung was signed by the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the week and dominated Saturday’s dunk contest with a near-perfect performance.

“It kind of feels like I’m the underdog from the start,” McClung said. “… Just proving yourself right, not wronging others, brings a little more satisfaction.”

Three of McClung’s four dunks earned him straight 50s from the judges, and he completed them all on the first try, causing a noticeable uproar in the Vivint Arena crowd as he prepared for everything else.

McClung gained an online following in high school for YouTube compilations of his dunks, which seemed otherworldly for a player now listed at a generous 6’2 and 185 pounds. Despite his size, McClung said watching the classic showdown between Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon in the 2016 dunk contest made him dream of being a part of it one day.

He opened up the competition Saturday with 50s down the line when he handed the ball to a friend who was sitting on the shoulders of another friend – Chase Skinkis, who describes himself as a “vertical jump specialist,” and high school pal Bradley Dean took off and tapped him against the backboard before sticking it through the hoop.

“We just wanted to try to invent something that we’ve never seen before, and the first dunk I’d never seen before, so hopefully it’s not out there,” McClung said.

His second dunk — a spinning chopper, two-handed, 360-degree stuff — earned him a 49.8. Lisa Leslie was the only judge stopping him from opening with two perfect scores in a row. McClung started the final round by again taking the ball from another friend who was holding it over his head – only one person this time, Skinkis – and executing a pronounced double pump before finishing the dunk with a two-handed reverse. He earned another 50.

For his final swing, McClung donned his Gate City, Va., high school uniform over his red Sixers jersey and threw a two-handed, 540-degree dunk — a twist and a half in the air — down with the trophy running away.

The judges – Karl Malone, Jamal Crawford, Harold Miner, Wilkins and Leslie – again gave him 50 points.

“We come from a small town, Gate City, of 1,600 people, and now we’re in this stage,” McClung said. “It was just incredible.”

After his final dunk, McClung was surrounded by a euphoric group of All-Stars in attendance, stunned by what they had just witnessed. He pointed to the camera: “It’s over!” — Mimicking Kenny Smith’s famous broadcast call during Vince Carter’s legendary dunk contest win in Oakland, California in 2000.

“I think something overwhelmed me; I don’t know what that was,” McClung said of the gesture. “I wasn’t really thinking at the moment; something just happened, to be honest.”

McClung said he wasn’t able to complete the 540-degree dunk in practice, but that at the moment he’s confident he can do it based on how his night is going.

He edged out the New Orleans Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III in the last round. Jericho Sims of the New York Knicks and Kenyon Martin Jr. of the Houston Rockets were eliminated after the first round.

Julie “Dr. J” Erving presented the trophy to McClung on center court. The NBA redesigned the dunk contest trophy this year and named it after the Sixers legend.

McClung said he will be back to defend his crown at next year’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis if the league invites him back.

“It was all blurry,” McClung said. “You really can do whatever you want. … If you manifest yourself and focus on it, you can literally create your life and reinvent yourself every day.”

Next week, he will return to the 76ers to fill coach Doc Rivers’ rotation as the team prepares for the playoffs.

“I don’t worry about what other people think, good or bad, I stay the course,” McClung said when asked about his breakout night. “My goal is to make a difference in the NBA and I’m just going to keep working until that happens.”